The UFC is coming to Canada. Three times. By year's end.
Following today's official announcement that UFC 149 will take place July 21 in Calgary, UFC officials announced two other upcoming Canadian shows.
They include Toronto on Sept. 22 for UFC 152 (likely at Air Canada Centre), as well as Montreal (Bell Centre) on Nov. 17 for UFC 154.
In fact, officials said Calgary, Toronto and Montreal also will host shows in 2013.
Today's announcement came at Flames Central in downtown Calgary. The UFC 149 kickoff press conference was open to fans, some of whom began lining up in the early-morning hours. In front of a raucous crowd, UFC president Dana White dubbed Canadian fans the "best in the world."
All three Canadian shows will be pay-per-view events. In addition to the PPV main card, prelims are expected to air on FX and stream on Facebook.
No fights are announced for the UFC 152 and 154 shows. However, UFC featherweight Mark Hominick announced the UFC 152 show, and recovering welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre announced the UFC 154 event.
If his recovery allows, St-Pierre said he wants to fight at the Montreal event.
"The doctors said it's the fastest recovering they've seen in an ACL injury," said St-Pierre, who plans to resume training in July.
The UFC also hosted three Canadian events in 2010 and again in 2011. Calgary is the fourth Canadian city to host a UFC show following events in Montreal (four times), Vancouver (two) and Toronto (two).
For more on UFC 152 in Toronto and UFC 154 in Montreal, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.
GSP/Condit will likely be main eventing 154.