Mixed martial arts gods, why do you curse Alberta so?
It has been over five years since the Ultimate Fighting Championship first came to Canada’s oil country with the woeful UFC 149 bill in Calgary, headlined by Renan Barao’s first blowout of Urijah Faber after an unfathomable slate of injuries crippled the card and rankled western Canadian fight fans.
UFC President Dana White vowed he would “make it up” to the city. A half decade later, a Calgary return still is not in the immediate future for the Octagon, but hey, Edmonton is only 175 miles away and has the brand new Rogers Place, because every major Canadian city’s major sports venue, by law, must be named after one of two telecom companies.