UFC targeting big stadium show in Brazil by late 2013

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

When the UFC first put together the rematch between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen earlier this year, they were targeting the bout for UFC 147 in Brazil. They went so far as to announce the fight for a soccer stadium in the country, but it would ultimately not come to pass as planned.

They originally planned to run the event in Sao Paulo, but a noise ordinance in the city scrapped those plans. They then eyed a stadium event in Rio de Janeiro, but for the date they were eying it would have been impossible to organize. The main issue at the time was the fact that a conference for the United Nations was in Rio that same week, and there were simply not enough hotel rooms available that week for both events.

Because of that, Silva-Sonnen II was moved to UFC 148 in Las Vegas, and the UFC 147 card was shrunk down and moved to Belo Horizonte instead of Rio. Still, the difficulties the UFC faced with their first planned stadium card won't keep them from attempting it again, and it was revealed on Thursday that they're looking at running a stadium event in Brazil by the end of 2013.

UFC executive Marshall Zelaznik revealed at the UFC 153 pre-fight press conference that the UFC is targeting the second half of 2013 for a stadium card in Brazil, though no city or venue has been lined up.

"Every one of the cities in Brazil are trying to get a hold of us to have meeting to bring the event," Zelaznik said (via MMAFighting.com, "and we’re confident that if we held an event in any stadium in Brazil, it would be a massive success."

Penick's Analysis: They've got to have some major fights in order to get enough fans to a live event to fill a stadium, and I'm not sure how many would be acceptable for a stadium show in Brazil. Obviously the GSP-Anderson Silva bout has been discussed as a possible stadium show at Cowboys Stadium in the spring if it comes to pass, and I'd think Silva would be the leading name to put in a stadium show in Brazil as well. Who he would fight is a different question, and though Silva alone can be a massive draw - especially in Brazil - I don't know that he could draw nearly enough live for a Stadium show without a more stacked card. Now, there's plenty of time for the UFC to develop plans for late next year, so there's no rush or sense of urgency here, but they'll have to put something special together to draw 80,000 fans to a live event.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_14642.shtml

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