UFC 131 official for April 30 at Rogers Centre in Toronto

[timster]

The Ultimate Fighting Championship's Toronto debut is set.

Today during a media and fan event at the Air Canada Centre, UFC president Dana White confirmed that UFC 131 takes place April 30 at the 69,000-seat Rogers Centre.

No fights were announced for the show, but UFC 131 will feature a two-day UFC Fan Expo at the Direct Energy Centre from April 29-30.

Given the size of the venue and Canada's immense MMA fan base, the show, which airs on pay-per-view, likely will shatter the North American MMA attendance and live-gate records.

"Canadians have repeatedly shown how much they love the UFC," White stated. "Fans in Ontario have patiently waited, and it will pay off as this one will go down in the history books come April 30. I'm very excited. Toronto is going to break the record and host the biggest-mixed martial-arts event ever in North America."

Tickets are expected to go on sale in January.

One possibility for the card is UFC welterweight champion and Canadian fighter Georges St-Pierre. However, he first fights top contender and "The Ultimate Fighter 12" rival coach Josh Koscheck at this weekend's UFC 124 event in Montreal, and his status will depend on his health and the overall title picture of the division.

To date, Montreal and Vancouver are the only Canadian cities to host UFC events. Toronto, though, adopted MMA regulation back in August. The UFC then launched a Canadian division headed by former Canadian Football League Commissioner and one-time Adidas Canadian president Tom Wright, and White announced the organization's intention to host a Toronto show in 2011.

White previously has called Toronto a "mecca of MMA."

However, it's not known how many fans the Rogers Centre will be configured to hold. White previously has expressed disinterest in hosting shows with more than 20,000 seats because it takes away from the "intimate environment" and forces fans to watch the action on video screens throughout the arena. However, UFC 131 could host far more than 20,000 attendees based on the configuration that's ultimately chosen.

For more on UFC 131, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com

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[D. S. Veteran]

Ok, this was the first thread about UFC 131 so let's run with it.

Announced matches:

Brock Lesnar vs. Junior dos Santos

Kenny Florian vs. Diego Nunes

Shane Carwin vs. Jon Olav Einemo

Demian Maia vs. Mark Munoz

Dustin Poirier vs. Rani Yahya

Court McGee vs. Jesse Bongfeldt

Donald Cerrone vs. Mac Danzig

Yves Edwards vs. Sam Stout

Darren Elkins vs. Michihiro Omigawa

Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Anthony Perosh

Dave Herman vs. Rob Broughton

Curious to see how Jon Olav Einemo turns out. He's an elite grappler but hasn't fought since 2006. Going up against Shane Carwin in his UFC debut is going to be really tough. Elite Striker vs Elite Grappler clich?. Maybe if Carwin gasses out again, he could win it... if he's not already out cold of course.

Main Event is going to be awesome. JDS is going to beat Lesnar into a pulp.