The Staff at Sportsnet.ca are reporting that the WEC has booked a date in Canada this summer. The organization will bring WEC 49 to Edmonton’s Rexall Place on June 20th – the same venue that currently holds the Edmonton Oilers of the NHL.
The WEC will make its Canadian debut this summer as expected, but it will be in Edmonton, not Calgary as originally planned.
WEC vice-president Peter Dropick told the Star Phoenix over the weekend the organization was looking at Alberta as a whole for the June 20 show, and the event will take place at Rexall Place, which will be configured to seat between 8,000 and 9,000.
It had been previously reported that WEC 49 would be held at Calgary’s Stampede Corral.
The WEC’s sister organization is set to hold its first show in Western Canada a week prior — UFC 115 will take place at the GM Place in Vancouver on June 12.
Payout Perspective:
The Edmonton fight scene is pretty large for a relatively small city (by American standards, at least), but I’m not sure that’s a surprise considering how popular the sport of MMA has become in Canada. There are probably six different MMA promotions in Edmonton alone and another 3-4 throughout the rest of the province.
I’d expect this event, depending on the feature, to challenge for a top five WEC gate; especially considering the dollar is expected to hold close to par for the remainder of the summer (now is a great time to hold a card in Canada for any US promotion).
Agreed Kelsey, I think Strikeforce should venture north as well.