The Oilers Entertainment Group announced Thursday that the UFC is coming to Edmonton for the first time, with an event at Rogers Place in early September.
Officials said UFC 216 will take place September 9 at Rogers Place, the second Canadian event in 2017 after an event in Halifax in February.
“We are thrilled to host our first pay-per-view event in Edmonton,” Joe Carr, UFC Senior Vice President said in a statement. “Fans have long been asking us to bring the Octagon back to Alberta, and we can’t wait to deliver a blockbuster event at state-of-the-art Rogers Place this September.”
“This is something we’ve been working on for over a year now to get on the UFC card is very difficult in our country,” Bob Nicholson with the Oilers Entertainment Group said.
Fans say Edmonton, which regularly plays host to local MMA events, deserves a large-scale event like this one – and officials said a huge draw for the UFC is Rogers Place.
“We met with Tom Wright over a year and a half ago, and the arena was really a drawing card to bring them to Edmonton,” Pat Reid, Executive Director of the Edmonton Combative Sports Commission said.
UFC 216 will also be the second time the UFC is held in Alberta, after Calgary hosted UFC 149 in 2012.
Information on tickets and the card will be released later.
A website has been launched to provide pre-sale access to registered fans and details on the event.
With files from Dan Grummett
