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[Cat--Smasher]

USA TODAY: Canada fights to keep prime spot on UFC map

Tom Wright, the UFC's director of Canadian operations, says Canada soon might slip behind Brazil in terms of total market value, but he thinks a well-established base of UFC supporters means the country will remain a priority behind the USA.

"Factually, there are still more MMA fans per capita in Canada than anywhere else in the world," Wright said. "We are the second-largest market for the UFC in the world. But we won't be forever because we're about 50 million people short.

"We just don't have the population base to support it."

Canada's population stands at about 35 million, while Brazil has nearly 200 million citizens.

Wright says Canada's status as an "MMA Mecca," a term coined by UFC President Dana White, is in danger, but he insists the promotion is not turning its back on the nation.

"Brazil is the market that's growing so tremendously now, and I think you're going to see markets like China and India grow as our sport begins to get more developed in those areas," Wright said. "But I think the Canadian market is still growing."

On Saturday, St-Pierre will fight for the first time since headlining a historic UFC 129 event in April 2011 in Toronto, where 55,724 fans generated a live gate of $12.1 million. At the time, Brazil hadn't hosted a UFC event since 1998, and Canada was the promotion's top foreign destination.

Since then, several contenders have stepped forward at 170 pounds, and Brazil has emerged as a prime market. But the popularity of St- Pierre and the sport in his native country should resonate Saturday.

"A lot of people are kind of wondering what kind of Georges St- Pierre is going to come back," Wright said. "It's been almost 19 months since Georges last fought, so it's critically important that he's back healthy.

"It's also really important to us as we try to build our business in Canada, where we think we've got some great opportunities to grow the brand and grow the sport."

USA TODAY: Canada fights to keep prime spot on UFC map | MMAjunkie.com

[rivethead]

wow...that puts a bout in Cowboys Stadium into a new light and it's 80k capacity. They'd be looking to nearly double the attendance of a card that more than tripled the attendence of it's nearest competitor.

I didn't realize how comparitively huge 129 was, but Cowboy Stadium is a tall order.

rh

[LefthookStcrook]

Awsome read. Lots of good numbers there for Canada, I could just imagine if we had 200Million people what the numbers would be like.

Brazil certaintly got the population and intrest, but the PPV numbers arnt anything to write home about.

UFC153- 16,800 fans, 2.6million gate.
UFC 153 draws an announced 16,844 fans for gate between $2.5-2.6 million | MMAjunkie.com

UFC147 didnt release the gate but had 16,600 fans.
UFC 147: Silva vs. Franklin II Gate, Attendance & Event Bonuses - FightCove.com

UFC142(Huge card) had 10,600 fans and a gate of 2.8 million.
UFC 142: Payout Perspective : MMAPayout.com: The Business of MMA

Nothing really comes close to the 55,000fans and 12million gate UFC129 did.

With that said, a SHITLOAD(23Million) of Brazilians watched UFC142 for free.
UFC 142: Payout Perspective : MMAPayout.com: The Business of MMA

Thats almost the entire population of Canada including every baby, elderly and eskimo. Thats just crazy. They could've charge one US Dollar to watch the fights and made an EXTRA 23Million...that just blows my mind really.

[kalebarker]

Oh UFC 97... millions of dollars in live gate and so many open seats because of scalpers.

[Leucoethiops]

Originally Posted by rivethead

They'd be looking to nearly double the attendance of a card that more than tripled the attendence of it's nearest competitor.

Organized by gate, not attendance.... Still, well over doubled the attendance.