BY JOE FERRARO
sportsnet.ca

After weeks of speculation that the Ultimate Fighting Championship were going to make their fifth stop at the Bell Centre on Dec. 10, Tom Wright, the director of operations for UFC Canada, made it clear that the deal to return to Montreal is far from signed.

"Well as you know, I wouldn't believe everything I read in the newspaper. It's not a foregone conclusion," Wright said.

Thus far, the only guarantee is that the UFC will host an event in the Great White North in the final month of 2011.

"We've looked at the Dec. 10 date. I think what is a foregone conclusion is that there will be an event in Canada, but there's lots of places we are looking at, lots of different venues. We of course would love to go back to Montreal. We've had great success at the Bell Centre, have a great relationship with the commission there (with) great UFC fans also."

Wright hinted that it is not just Montreal that is in the running to host UFC 140.

After a successful event in Toronto in April, MMA fans should not be surprised if the promotion chooses to return to the very location where the North American record was set for the largest attended MMA event in history.

"We're also looking at potentially coming back to Toronto. We'll look at the ACC (Air Canada Centre) and conceivably look at the Rogers Centre."

The demand to host a UFC event has also spread right across the province of Ontario.

"There's other places. I've been contacted by Scotia Bank Place in Ottawa, there's Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, there's lots of different opportunities, and lots of different places."

While Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa and Hamilton are all in the running to host UFC 140, Wright may have hinted that there are other cities across Canada in consideration.

"What I can tell UFC fans, is that, the thing I feel more confident about is saying there's going to be a Dec. 10 event in Canada. Where in Canada? It's a big country."