The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will continue its assault on new markets, heading to Chicago, Ill., for the first time ever with UFC 90 at the Allstate Arena on October 25, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
It will also mark the first-ever sanctioned mixed martial arts bout in the “Prairie State.”
Here’s a snip from UFC President Dana White:
“Chicago is a huge market for us. We track pay-per-view buys for our events and ratings on Spike TV, and Chicago is a killer market for us. ‘There are tons of fans in Chicago and around Chicago, and it’s going to be one of the places we hit often. It’s a great fight town, and we’re really pumped that we’re finally getting this done.”
Chicago joins Atlanta, Ga. (September), Omaha, Neb. (September) and Boston, Mass. (likely November) as fresh places within the United States that the promotion is heading as the sport continues to grow. Portland, Ore., and Honolulu, Hawaii, too, have been discussed as potential destinations stateside.
That’s of course in addition to the international expansion that Lorenzo Fertitta is now spearheading, eying far-off spots like the Philippines, India, Germany, Italy, Brazil and Japan in the near future.
There’s no word yet on possible UFC 90 participants; however, if “Windy City” resident Stephan Bonnar is healed from knee surgery he’ll be a shoe-in for the card.
Stay tuned for more details.
70 Comments »
i THINK ufc 91 IS GOING DOWN IN Portland!
Thats the rumor for about a week now on a lot of blogs and sites.
portland would make for the most boring place on earth
haha, why?
I hear they got good shrooms in Portland!
speaking of psychadelics, did anyone catch the VH1 Rock Honors, tribute to THE WHO last night?
portland would be a bad venu because of all the tree hugging hippies. The cage would need to be made out of 70% post consumer materials, soy snacks would be served at the concessions, and there would probably be a picket line to protest the violence. Great Northwest my ass.
Hell yeah. The Who is one of my all-time faves.
James S-
That has got to be one of the funniest and most insightful posts I have read!
dude, when is it coming back to Montreal? That would be hype. Record sell out means it’s gotta come back…and don’t fill it with Canadians just because it’s in Canada. Give us Cote and GSP and it’s all good.
GSP = Canadians lol
haha, so true…we are pure GSP all the way up here. When we see him, we jump up and down like 12 year old school boys. haha.
Has anyone heard of any potential match ups for UFC 90 + 91 yet?
I just hope shogun can be in the mix!
Linx: Good one! Forgot all about my boy! Cant wait form him to show America who he really is!
Hopefully he won’t gas this time. I’d like to see him put a beating on someone like he did to Rampage in Pride.
New York legislations neess to stop fronting on MMA. MMA/UFC needs to have MSG as host for a MMA event. The Mecca of sports. Once we go to MSG.. we’ll see MMA on ESPN everyday. MMA will be offically be mainstream.
Agreed. NYC is a great city and deserves some love.
As does T.O. make it legal in Toronto and bring it to the Air Canada Centre.
All of y’all are welcome..party at my crib.
yeah yeah, 500 sq ft. apartment!!
isn’t that like loft.
Alves vs. Diego cancelled for UFC 89!
No word yet on weather the fight is completley cancelled or postponed to uFC90 or 91
Serious? Ah man, that blows. I was really looking forward to this one, especially when considering how amazing Dirty looked in his last war.
How far is Alves from a title shot, especially considering that the ww class is sparse these days.
That really sucks
For what reason? Visa issues? Is someone injured?
I just think the card is super stacked already and there is another event a week later, so my guess would be that they will just feature it on a different card….
I would say Alves is a win or 2 away from fighting for the title
I’m betting he gets a shot if he beats Diego. He has 2 stoppage wins in a row over Karo and Hughes. I don’t see how another top 10 win in Diego WOULDN’T earn him a shot after Fitch.
probably right! I say give him a title shot with a win over Diego also, but I am biased toward Tiago, I have been high on this kid since before his break out party vs. Karo/lytle/Hughes
Holy man, how far ahead are we going here? Can someone tell me where UFC 95 is going to take place?
Too many events lined up too far ahead reduces the excitement of each individual event imo.
To an extent, I would agree…butthis is just news on aq location…No fights are mentioned, so there is really nothing to speculate over!
The only reason I posted the possible location, is in case there are fans from portland who want to go to the event live, knowing in advance gives them more time to prepare! I do agree that we shouldnt be talking about fights taking place 3 events down the line!
Oh shit.. AFFLICTION is 1 day away… Yeah Boy!!
You know Dana is going to watch it. He has too..and he knows it’s the hottest card in MMA history to date.
I feel bad for Joe Rogan! u know he wants to watch Affliction live, but he is stuck doing commentary instead!
yes Sir.. You know that has have him tight.. and he tells everyone don’t call me..don’t text me.. I want to see this shit “live’ myself. Imagine being called to work at the same time AFFLICTION airs live..and you want to see it. I’ll be one stare, or bump away..from flipping out on someone.
I would be looking for a new Job! lol
Do you think they (Goldy,Joe) will let the word ” AFFLICTION” slip from the lip during the broadcast?? We all pretty much know AFFLCITION is going be popping to tomorrow night..it would be funny if they slip up. Man..john that has to suck.
Rogan has diarea of the mouth, he is going to slip up! He will say Affliction during the broadcast!
Phil, that is what they make caller ID for! That and crazy ex girlfriends!lol
true. This weekend. My phone is not getting answered..till after AFFLICTION.
affliction is over rated, not the biggest card ever..
Probably the best Heavyweight card ever though, I would say even better than Heavyweight grand prix back in 04
Good Heavyweight fights are hard to come by and I think Affliction will have a few entertaining ones!
no comment.
Rogan will slip like the way he kept on saying Fedor a few cards back..remember that? Made me think we would see him in the UFC for sure. Almost to the point of having a fedor announcement at an event. Instead his slips just created for casual fans to run to the net and see who this “fedor” character is..haha. Rogan!!
as long as he doesnt call him fee-door.
I sometimes wonder if the UFC is not on the verge of spreading itself too thin by trying to expand worldwide. Only time will tell.
DREAM 4: Mark Hunt vs. Alistar Overeem?
Since this site refuses to show DREAM some love, time for me too step up!
I dont know how true it is, but if true, this is very exciting news so I will pass it along:
Mark Hunt vs Alistair Overeem
Alistair got a call yesterday to fight Mark Hunt and accepted and is now on the plane to Japan. So Alistair Overeem will fight Mark Hunt
I call it hunt by butt drop!
u realize, I am talking about DREAM 4, not 5 right? Thats crazy to take a fight with hunt on like 3 days notice!
I cant see Overeem beating Hunt, Hunt is just too big, hits too hard and has a cabbage like Chin!
Overeem is one of those very exciting fighters, that looses most of his big fights. He is exciting but he is not a winner
I know John, I’m just remembering the move hunt pulled on wandy when he jumped up and tried to crash on top of wandy with his butt. it was hilarious!
Its “the flying Atomic Butt Drop”…Classic move that I will never forget! see the look on Wanderlei’s face…He is liike “WTF is this fat F**K doing”…and then SPLAT, he crushed wanderlei.
That was an epic fight and althouh wanderlei lost that decision, his performances against bigger guys like Cro Cop/Hunt/Fujita is why he is beloved by so many!
Linx: I think if this newqs turns out to be true, very ballsy on Alistar’s part. Mark Hunt is not a guy that you would want to fight on 3 days notice (think about the Jet Lag)
THe Flying Atomic Butt Drop…..Classic move in mma history that will NEVER be forgotten!
Besides that move, Hunt vs. Wanderlei was one hell of a fight!
No way does Overeem beat Hunt imo. Hunt is a better striker, and won’t be finished by Overeem. Overeem is a beast for the first few minutes of a fight, then always gasses out. Seems the key is to withstand the barrage, then finish him off when he runs out of steam. I just don’t see him finishing Mark Hunt of all people, unless he somehow gets him in a guillotine
This will look like the second fight with sergei imo
Oh hell yes!! I’ll be in Chi-town in October and I’ll be there one way or another! Should be an awesome time. Chicago has the best sports fans anyway! (Cubs, Bears, Bulls). I’ll try not to get too drunk so that I can remember this one!
best sports fans and the greatest player in the history of basketball.
utapout-
I will extend the same courtesy to you that I extended to Kevin a couple of threads back.
I live in Chicago and know the best places/venues for food/hotel/nightlife, etc.
Anyone going to this event can email me at orlandojruiz@yahoo.com if they want to know the best spots.
tripleainto-
Overall Chicago has the best sports fans, absolutely.
We still lack in MMA knowledge, however
I give Chicago mad props. Something about the city that just kicks ass. Great sports atmosphere. If I reach, I’ll link you with an email to know of the spots. thx bro.
How’s Wrigley? Have you been? Looks like an awesome park.
Are you guys still looking to kick that dude’s ass who caught that ball that wasn’t in foul territory? haha. didn’t he take off to florida or something. Man I felt scared for him.
Wrigley is beautiful but the seats are old fashioned and small.
The neighborhood is yuppies, NICE looking women and bars/pubs.
Its a great party atmosphere but expensive. Especially the women,
Most Cub fans have forgiven Bartman but we all know that choking away leads is the Cubs’ specialty. Hahaha.
bring back arlovski for this card
bonnar will be on it lol..
i gotta say craziest sports fans are in ohio they like the browns,the bengals and jorge gurgel..
oh oh..debate on the craziest sports fans!
I’d have to say the most intense fans are Toronto fans!! Jays, Leafs, Argos, Raptors..all coupled with Canadian beer. You see how we boo Vince even to this day! Never double cross a Toronto sports fan…we be crazy intense.
Once espn picks the “Titletown. They’ll do “Craziest Fans”..just cast your vote. Rep your hood/city.
ahhh yeaa. It’s on like donkey kong.
We all know that Philly fans are the absolute craziest!
They have a strong rep for that.
Let’s ask john-
What do you think?
when are they gonna do a UFC in Cancun…what what!! It would be pimp for Heurta anddd some mad parties at Senor Frogs, Daddy-O’s, Coco Bongo’s, with some hot ass ladies.
On that note, lets all go to Oasis Cancun.
If it wasn’t for douche-bag spring breaking frat boys and the Girls Gone Wild film crews those places would dry up like a puddle in the sun.
I hope fitch can defend his belt in chicago. Its only 3 hrs from home for him.
Haha, so confident are we? That’s cool. I respect the confidence. Tell me though, how will he win it? You gotta say it’s a big step up for him from say, hmm, Chris Wilson.
Chicago is a great fight town. I can’t wait.
He will win in the 4th rd rear naked joke. I would love it if he would knock him out. Jon Is a very smart fighter he did what he needed to do to beat chris wilson. Chris is a big and very long fighter which gives him good take down defense. Fitch has faught some very tough guys like alves,dirty sanchez,josh burkmen, and ect….. I am just so sick of nobody giving him a chance I think people will be suprised.
“nobody giving him a chance”
Exaggeration much?
UFC 90… Anderson Silva vs. Yushin Okami and Mauricio Rua vs. Stephan Bonnar???
what do you think?