THE CANADIAN PRESS
LAS VEGAS — Just days after setting a North American MMA attendance record attendance in Canada, the UFC is heading to Rio.
The UFC has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro with president Dana White, co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta, the mayor of Rio and an array of Brazilian mixed martial arts stars.
The UFC, which has long talked of staging another show in Brazil, is showcasing a Who’s Who of Brazilian fighters at the news conference: light-heavyweight champion Mauricio (Shogun) Rua, middleweight title-holder Anderson Silva, featherweight champion Jose Aldo, middleweight contender Vitor Belfort and Hall of Famer Royce Gracie.
Not one to downplay its accomplishments, the UFC is calling it a "monumental announcement."
The UFC has not held an event in Brazil since Ultimate Brazil in Sao Paulo in October 1998, before the current ownership group took over the organization.
That card was between UFC 17 and 18.
The UFC attracted more than 23,000 to Montreal’s Bell Centre for UFC 124 on Saturday, a record MMA crowd for North America. That record is expected to be erased April 30 in Toronto by UFC 131 at the Rogers Centre.
