"Gonna go everywhere": Dana White hints at more Canadian UFC events
Dana White appears to have plans in the works to bring more UFC events to Canada soon.
The UFC president spoke highly of the country following Saturday night’s UFC 289 at Vancouver’s Rogers Arena, suggesting that more Canadian dates will be in the future.
“We’re gonna go everywhere,” White said at Saturday night’s post-fight press conference.
And it appears White has a particular city in mind for his next Canadian destination.
“Yes, that’s where we should go next,” White replied to a reporter asking if Toronto was the next sensible Canadian destination.
Upcoming UFC dates and locations are currently mostly planned through December 16,Ā with 13 American dates, two European dates, one Australian date, one Brazilian date, and a fight in the United Arab Emirates currently on the calendar.
However, there is a UFC Fight night show currently scheduled for August 5 without a venue or a location, which appears to be the next available date the sport could conceivably return to Canada.
Saturday’s show was the UFC’s first in Canada since 2019 (also in Vancouver). White previously cited concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic limiting crowd sizes and complicating travel for UFC fighters and staff for reasons it had taken four years to return to Canada.
Meanwhile, Toronto hasn’t hosted an event since UFC 231 in December 2018, with the promotion visiting Ottawa, Edmonton, and Vancouver in the timeframe since. Previous UFC events have also been hosted in Moncton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Halifax, Saskatoon, Montreal, and Quebec City.
“This country has been very good to us since the beginning,” White added. “Vancouver is always going to be a destination. This arena treats us well; the city has been great. The people in Canada are the best. I mean, there’s not a lot of negative things you can say about coming to Canada. Everything about this country is awesome.”
White also touted the sold-out crowd of 17,628, who generated $5.14 million in gate revenue.
Despite a few dust-ups in the crowd ā and one collapsed railing, the night appeared to be a rousing success for the promotion and local fans.
Amanda Nunes topped Irene Aldana with a unanimous decision in the main event to win the women’s bantamweight title, while Charles Oliveira knocked out Beneil Dariush in the first round to retain his No. 1 spot on the UFC’s men’s lightweight rankings.
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