Fans chose the location. They’ll also get to pick one of the fights.
The UFC announced Thursday that its June 8 event headlined by the flyweight rematch between Demetrious Johnson and Ian McCall will take place in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the city named the winner of the UFC’s Harley Davidson Hometown Throwdown program to select the show’s venue.
The UFC on FX 3 — or as it will be called “UFC Harley-Davidson Hometown Throwdown on FX” — will take place at the BankAtlantic Center after fans went to a UFC-sponsored website to submit a city for consideration for a future event and
Southern Florida was eventually selected.
It will be headlined by a rematch of February’s flyweight tournament semi-final that infamously ended in a draw. The victor will go on to face Joseph Benavidez, the winner of the other semi-final, for the first-ever UFC 125-pound title later in the year.
“I’m excited to bring the UFC back to Florida,” UFC president Dana White said in a release. “The first fight between Johnson and McCall was incredible, and on June 8, they will finally finish the fight to determine who is going to fight for the first-ever flyweight title.”
Fans will also be able to go to ufc.com/hometownthrowdown to vote for which bout will make it onto the main card and be the first fight shown on the FX telecast.
They can choose between the following three bouts: Scott Jorgensen vs. Eddie Wineland in bantamweight action; Carlos Eduardo Rocha vs. Mike Pierce in a welterweight bout; Lance Benoist vs. Seth Baczynski at 170 pounds.
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Johnson and McCall first squared off last month in Australia, with Johnson initially being declared the winner. However, it was revealed later that night that the judges’ scorecards were tabulated incorrectly by the local athletic commission and the actual decision was a draw.
They will meet in a three-round rematch, but should the fight be a draw after three rounds, the competitors will go to a sudden victory round (as was supposed to happen after their first meeting had the scoring error been discovered early enough).
UFC lands TV deal in India
The UFC also announced Thursday that it has established a new four-year partnership with Multi Screen Media (MSM) — a subsidiary of Sony Pictures Television — to broadcast UFC programming in India and the rest of the sub-continent. MSM’s new sports channel, SIX, will deliver the mixed martial arts brand to Indian fans by airing live UFC events, taped specials, and bouts from its UFC library.
“When we went to India over a year ago I felt the market held enormous potential for the UFC,” said UFC chairman Lorenzo Fertitta. “India has a long history of martial arts and traditional wrestling like Kushti. Indian athletes have also demonstrated worldclass levels in combat sports as evidenced by the country’s 2008 Olympic medalists in wrestling and boxing.”
White added: “I’ve been saying for a few years that India would be next and it was just a matter of finding the right partner in the market. MSM has been a pioneer in India, broadcasting new sports franchises like the IPL. We’ve got big plans for India and MSM couldn’t be a better partner.”
