UFC Coming Up North

Canadian Press

6/16/2007 1:04:56 PM

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (CP) - The UFC is coming to Canada this fall.

The mixed martial arts circuit will be in Montreal in October, UFC president Dana White told The Canadian Press. He did not provide a date for the show but said the decision to come to Canada was made Saturday.

The UFC had planned to hold a show at Montreal's Bell Centre on April 7 but the card was called off in December. At the time White said: ''There were a lot of different things that made that fight fall apart.''

Now it appears Montreal is back on the UFC dance card.

White has called Canada ''a phenomenal breakthrough market'' for the UFC, citing pay per view buy rate and ticket sales as evidence of the Canadian interest in mixed martial arts.

Montreal has a thriving MMA scene, with the TKO circuit running successful cards at the Bell Centre already. It is also home to former UFC (welterweight) champion Georges St. Pierre.

With the UFC having already expanded to England and Northern Ireland, White is now looking to closer territories north and south of the U.S. border. A card in Mexico is expected in the first half of 2008.

''England, Canada and Mexico, those are all kind of no-brainers for us,'' White said Saturday prior to UFC 72.

The UFC also plans to expand into mainland Europe in 2008.

After UFC 72 in Belfast, shows are planned in Sacramento, Calif. (UFC 73, July 7), Las Vegas (UFC 74, Aug. 25) and London, England (UFC 75, Sept. 8).

St. Pierre is due to fight Josh Koscheck at UFC 74 in his first fight since losing the 170-pound title to Matt (The Terror) Serra in April in Houston at UFC 69.

Toronto is not an option for the UFC since mixed martial arts is not sanctioned in Ontario.