UFC 197 will no longer take place in Brazil. Photo: Disclosure
Brazilian MMA fans were taken by surprise in the last days of 2015 with the news that UFC 197, on March 5th, would no longer take place in Rio de Janeiro. The revelation was made by Anderson Silva, who stated, in a press conference, that the “global economic crisis” had removed the event from Brazil.
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However, the UFC director in the country, Giovani Decker, clarified that the reason for the change was different, and that the organization is already thinking about the date on which Ultimate will return to the country. “It is neither right nor true to say that it was cancelled, nor that the cause of the postponement was the crisis. There was nothing like this due to economic reasons or lack of confidence on the part of the UFC in Brazil. What is certain is that there will be a numbered UFC event in Brazil, probably in the last quarter of the year, perhaps in October or November. The numbered event in Rio de Janeiro was postponed, but not cancelled”, declared the director, in an interview with the website of the “Combate” channel.
Decker stated that the original plans for Ultimate in Brazil included two supercrows, taking place in a stadium in Curitiba. “First of all, it is important to clarify to fans that the original plan for UFC 197 was for it to take place in a football stadium, the Arena da Baixada, in Curitiba, with the fight between Fabricio Werdum e Cain Velazquez as the main event, and have the Anderson Silva, perhaps against the Michael Bisping, as co-main event”, he explained.
However, a series of events meant that the fight between Werdum and Velasquez was transferred to the United States. “The plan began to have problems when title disputes and injuries began to occur at the events in September, October and November. As a result, the UFC's planning for UFC 196 went down the drain, and we had to split the Brazilian event card, giving up the main fight, or the co-main fight. Everything was already done. It’s frustrating to say this, but it was great bad luck”, he lamented.
Thus, UFC 197 was transferred to Las Vegas (USA), with Rafael dos Anjos x Conor McGregor in the main fight, and Miesha Tate x Holly holm in the second most important fight of the night. Cain Velazquez e Fabricio Werdum face each other on February 6th, at UFC 196, with Anderson Silva e Michael Bisping dueling on February 27th, in London, England.
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