UFC 129 Sells Out Former WrestleMania Stadium (55,000+ Tickets)
Posted on Sunday, February 13, 2011 at 11:11 am
The
UFC announced Saturday that all tickets for its April 30 event at
Rogers Centre (formerly the Skydome) in Toronto have been sold.
Rogers
Centre was originally configured to accommodate 42,000 spectators, but
the unprecedented demand for tickets led the company to reconfigure the
seating chart to accomidate over 55,000 fans.
“UFC continues to
set new milestones,” UFC president Dana White said. “We’ve sold 55,000
tickets in our first stadium event in Toronto and we continue to take
the UFC to the next level.”
UFC 129 will be the first mixed
martial arts event held in Ontario and is expected to more than double
the promotion’s record for largest crowd to witness a live event.
UFC
129 will be headlined by two blockbuster title fights, both featuring
Canadians. George St. Pierre looks to defend his welterweight belt
against Jake Shields, and fellow Canadian Mark Hominick faces current
featherweight champion Jose Aldo.
Until UFC 129, the largest
crowd the company ever drew event was back in December 2010, when UFC
124 (GSP vs. Koscheck) drw 23,000 at Bell Centre in Montreal.
UFC
129 is also expected to shatter the promotion’s mark for live gate
revenue. The current record for a live gate is $5.4 million, set on
Dec. 30, 2006, for UFC 66 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Thiago Silva Injured, Rashad vs. Rampage II At UFC 130
Posted on Thursday, February 10, 2011 at 4:06 pm
There
have been recent reports and rumors circulating in regards to Thiago
Silva being forced to pull out of his scheduled UFC 130 match up with
Rampage Jackson with a replacement fighter being marked as Rashad Evans
for the bout.
It appears that while Quinton “Rampage” Jackson won’t get a title shot, he will get a second fight against a former champion.
Sources
have indicated that Thiago Silva has been forced to withdraw from his
upcoming fight at UFC 130, and will be replaced by former UFC light
heavyweight champion Rashad Evans due to an injury.
Evans was
just forced out of his UFC 128 bout against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua due
to a knee sprain suffered in training. The Team Jackson fighter wasn’t
seriously injured, and was already hoping to be back as early as May.
It looks like he’ll get his wish.
Neither Evan’s co-manager Malki
Kawa or Jackson’s representatives could be reached for comment, but
sources close to the bout confirmed that it will be Evans that steps
into the UFC 130 fight.