The UFC has promised a Rogers Centre configuration for its Toronto show that will deliver a 'fabulous' fan experience.
When Mark Hominick knocked out George Roop at last month's UFC Fight for the Troops -- and did it in 88 seconds while coming out unscathed -- a lot of Canadian fight fans breathed a sigh of relief.
One of those was UFC's director of Canadian operations Tom Wright.
That's because it solidified what he had been hoping for from the moment the organization's first event in Ontario was announced late last year.
"I lobbied (the UFC brass) to have two championships because I think this is the kind of venue, the kind of city and the kind of country that can host that," Wright said at Tuesday's press conference at the Rogers Centre to promote April's UFC 129 in Toronto.
Wright admitted he never really thought that the historic event would end up with both championship fights involving Canucks. But after the main event was already installed with welterweight champion -- and Canadian sports hero -- Georges St-Pierre defending his belt against Jake Shields, the second part of the equation became a reality when Hominick's hand was raised in January.
"I can't tell you how thrilled I am to have Mark be sitting beside me and also have a chance to fight for the first time for his championship belt against a great fighter in Jose Aldo," Wright added.
The last time the UFC had two championship fights was last April at the UFC's debut in Abu Dhabi -- the promotion's first ever event in an open-air arena -- and before that they had two at the milestone UFC 100 in Las Vegas (which also involved GSP). So UFC 129 will be in pretty good company just on that note. Not to mention it will be the first time having two Canadians fighting for UFC belts on the same night.
But of course, the bigger distinction will be the capacity, and the venue -- the first time being held at a baseball stadium, instead of the typical hockey/basketball arena or casino.
While it will almost certainly break attendance records, the concern remains the fan experience -- especially for those sitting in the upper echelons of the 42,000-plus configuration.
But Wright insisted that the fan experience will be maintained -- and hinted at some things that will make it a unique one.
"From the outset UFC president Dana (White)'s always said it's about making sure the fan experience for this first ever event in Toronto is the best ever. And so we went out and configured a 60-70,000 seat stadium to hold 42,000 seats.
"We're going to have a total of eight different screens for the fans in the 500 sections to be able to not only watch the event live by looking down at the Octagon but they're going to have these huge screens."
He would have continued explaining more -- specifically about the Jumbotron -- but he was cut off by the UFC’s boss.
"Don't tell them everything, we've got to save some surprises," White said.
"Okay, I won't tell you everything," Wright conceded. "But all I can say is it's going to be a fabulous experience.
And fans need not worry -- the special configuration won't involve any temporary seating, meaning patrons with valid tickets definitely won't go seatless, like some 400 fans at the Super Bowl in Dallas were forced to on Sunday.
"We won't be kicking people out their seats when they get here," White said, laughing.
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Read a recap of (Big Game) James Brydon's live chat from Rogers Centre and the UFC Fan Q&A. Also read his tweets from the press conference.
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A current seating chart is now available on the Rogers Centre's website. However, before tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. ET on Thursday -- to UFC Fight Club members, followed by UFC newsletter subscribers on Friday before the public sale on Saturday -- they will have a 3-d rendition of the stadium, where fans will actually be able to select seats and get a 360-degree virtual view of that location.
How's that for innovation?
As far as the fights go, most of the talk Tuesday was about the GSP-Shields headliner (when they weren't looking beyond to a potential GSP-Silva super-fight).
But almost as intriguing is the co-main event between Hominick and featherweight champion Aldo. Hominick could well be the second-best Canadian fighter in the UFC right now, yet still many fans in this country don't know very much about the Thamesford, Ont., native.
That's part of the reason that not only the outcome of his last fight, but the manner in which he fought, was so important to him.
"I went into my last training camp eight weeks out thinking, 'I want to make a statement,'" Hominick said. "I wanted to reintroduce myself to the UFC fans and prove why I'm the No. 1 contender and do it in impressive fashion and that's I believe what I did."
Fans will have plenty of time to get more acquainted with the new Canadian face of the UFC in the next 11-plus weeks. But Wright is certain of one thing -- Hominick's no token challenger fighting in his home province.
"I think it's going to be a great fight for Canadian fight fans but also just great for UFC fans," Wright said.
