We passed along news not too long ago that the next international stop for the UFC after UFC 70: “Nations Collide” would be in Belfast, Ireland, on June 16 for UFC 72.
The location for that event, however, was unconfirmed.
Until now.
According to FightNetwork.com, the Odyssey Arena in northern Ireland will host UFC 72.
Here’s a snip:
“… we have confirmed though various employees there that [UFC 72] be held at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast on June 16. The Odyssey currently hosts the local ice hockey team in the Belfast Giants, and in that capacity, seats a modest 10,000 spectators (that number could rise with floor seating added). For British fans, Belfast is a trip across the Irish Sea, but to put things into perspective for our American readers, the flight is similar to that of Las Vegas to Los Angeles and budget airline operations between Britain and Ireland may mean that a lot of the Brits will travel for this show.”
For the developing UFC 72 fight card click here.
27 Comments »
Is this the day that Tito is supposed to pound in Rashad. I also heard Sherk is finally defending, as well as Silva. Do I have this right?
I believe your right on Sherk defending against Franca, don’t know about Silva on this card, and Definately worng on the Tito pounding on Rashad part. Tito vs Rashad i believe is also scheduled on this card, but Tito will be getting an ass beating!
Sounds like it should be a decent card,i’m sure we will learn more soon.
SCMMA you actually think Rashad has better hands than Tito?? Pound for pound I think this match up is ideal. Both fighters are very strong with similar strategies. Do you honestly think Rashad will be able to muscle around Tito like he did everyone else. Theres too many holes in Rashad’s game. Tito’s hands are so much better. Two ass whoopings from Liddell taught him something. Besides he can’t afford to lose to a up and coming TUF fighter if he wants to remain a contender. Tito knows this and he will not lose this fight
Here’s the tentative UFC 72 fight card (a link to which I provided in the post above):
Undercard:
185 lbs.: Rich Franklin (21-2-0) vs. Martin Kampmann (15-2-0)
205 lbs.: Forrest Griffin (13-4-0) vs. TBA
155 lbs.: Tyson Griffin (8-1-0) vs. Clay Guida (21-7-0)
Alright so it’s for sure all the fights we are talking about are moved to 73
yeah they are moved to 73 and its gonna be a good one…
Forget all this future talk, 70 is in 10 days. I cant frigging wait. Werdum v AA, Lyoto, and Mirko all on one card… I just wet myself again.
Is it going to be free on spike tv?? If yes it is great
Not to be an ass but Belfast is in Northen Ireland.
[quote comment="32187"]Not to be an ass but Belfast is in Northen Ireland.[/quote]
You mean Northern? Not to be an ass or anything.
i am also very excited that ufc is becoming more international, however i just cant bring myself to get excited about the rich franklin fight. i hope he gets his ass kicked and i hope that you all are right about sherk defending his title.
I do think Rashad has better stand up than Tito, he’s much faster. He is such an athlete, Tito will have his hands full for sure.
Set your alarm clocks for about 8:00 a.m. to see this one on PPV. I think Belfast is about 6 or 7 hours ahead of those of us on Central Standard Time.
Rashad by TKO, and once again Franklin by stoppage. When are we going to see a Franklin/Lyoto rematch??? Unfortunately, I think Tito’s game is over. What about Bisping/Evans??? What do y’all think of that matchup???
Not to be picky but Belfast is in Northern Ireland, which is in turn British as they hold passports of the UK and Northern Ireland. Thus their nationality is British. So British fans will not ”have” to cross the sea as alot of them already live there!!
If you live in Northern Ireland you can either call yourself British or Irish and can hold both British and Irish Passports.
Not to be picky of course.
Belast will be a great venue, tito cant handel the likes of liddell and rampage in my opinion on his last performances, but he’s still a former champion and dangerous, but i think he’ll stop rashad.anything could hapen though as long as they dont come out like snachez did against Josh Koscheck and not put his gloves where his big moouth was prefight. tito and rashad will put on a show count on that.
I realy think its a bad move to hold a ufc event in Belfast its a real dive of a place and that venue is not worthy of any UFC event.Dublin would be a far better place to hold this event and out of the whole UK england is by far the best and only place they should hold any UFC event with venues that could rival any in the US.Every time I go back to Ireland from England I feel as though I have traveled back in time about 20 years.Belfast is shit.
UFC 72 is officially titled “Victory”. It sez so at UFC.com when you click on Schedule.
[quote comment="35212"]I realy think its a bad move to hold a ufc event in Belfast its a real dive of a place and that venue is not worthy of any UFC event.Dublin would be a far better place to hold this event and out of the whole UK england is by far the best and only place they should hold any UFC event with venues that could rival any in the US.Every time I go back to Ireland from England I feel as though I have traveled back in time about 20 years.Belfast is shit.[/quote]
The Odyssey Arena is Ireland’s biggest indoor stadium and also was short-listed for ‘International Large Venue of the Year’ (Outside of North America) in the 2005 Pollstar Concert Industry Awards making it one of the top six major venues in the world!
Check it out the website is:
http://www.pollstaronline.com/CIC2006/Awards17/awardscategories.htm
And to further my argument Belfast has the fastest growing economy in the UK and Ireland. The average house price in Belfast is £200,000 ($400,269). In fact in some cases Belfast is becoming known as the most expensive place to live in the UK and Ireland making it more expensive than both capitals London and Dublin.
Im waiting for your response so i can just argue again.
well ciaran my name is ciaran to.Whenever I have been to belfast I have seen it as being a prety troubled place with lots n lots of naughty people about.Why not hold it in derry in the town hall, uk itd be a cracker hey.the crack ed be 90.Ha Ha.Most of the houses there have steel barriers for windows,where are these nice houses at?
Please don’t diss Belfast; Im soooo excited about UFC coming here!! I live in Belfast and I’ll admit it was a pretty bad place to live in during the 60s with the troubles, but its not like that anymore! Its one of the most visited cities in Europe and has the best night life in Ireland. You guys need to cut us some slack we’re a small provence with a troubled past. And the fact that organisations such as the UFC are coming over here just shows how far we’ve came and how many UFC fans there are in Northern Ireland and The Republic of Ireland!
Looking forward to Rich and Forest, I’ll definitely be buying my tickets asap! Would’ve loved for Chuck to have been fighting in Belfast; but you can’t have everything!!
p.s. better to live in houses with steel barriers than live in a caravan in a “trailer park”!!!
Im delighted that UFC is coming to Belfast anw will be there without a doubt…
They’ve now announced that the Franklin v Kampmann fight is going to be the main event … pretty weak card in my opinion. Would have been great to see a championship fight!!
Kampmann got a knee injury, he wont be going to Belfast they are currently looking for another fighter, the fight card now.
UFC 72: June 16
Rich Franklin Vs. TBD
Rory Singer Vs. Jason MacDonald
Tyson Griffin Vs. TBD
TBD Vs. Marcus Davis
Tom Murphy Vs. Jake O’Brien
Eddie Sanchez Vs. Colin Robinson
Scott Smith Vs. Ed Herman
Forrest Griffin Vs. Hector Ramirez (not yet confirmed)
Woohooo my cousin stephen fought in this