Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2009 5:55 am
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The season-ending title fight between "The Ultimate Fighter 12" coaches Georges St-Pierre and title challenger Josh Koscheck takes place in December, and UFC president Dana White told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) he's got two potential host sites in mind for the fight.
Either would offer one of the fighters something of a home-field advantage.
Of course, the UFC's efforts to get mixed martial arts sanctioned in new Canadian cities could be the deciding factor.
White, who named the coaches soon after Koscheck scored a decision victory over Paul Daley in a No. 1 contender's bout at UFC 113, and other UFC officials recently held a press conference in Toronto to announce the organization's new Canadian office.
During the May 25 press conference at Toronto's Rogers Centre, the UFC introduced former Canadian Football League Commissioner and one-time Adidas Canadian president Tom Wright as the office's new head. The division will be headquartered in Toronto, which raised a few eyebrows since the city (Canada's largest) doesn't allow MMA.
However, the office and Wright's hiring are what UFC CEO and chairman Lorenzo Fertitta calls a "full-court press" to get MMA sanctioned throughout Canada, including Toronto. To sweeten the deal and provide further incentive for local legislators, UFC officials even distributed a press release stating that White wants to hold the St-Pierre vs. Koscheck title fight in Canada.
And over the weekend, he said Toronto is on the top of the list.
Ideally, the city would adopt MMA regulation by December. If so, St-Pierre, a French-Canadian from Quebec, and Koscheck would headline the first show.
But if not, the title fight instead could take place in Pittsburgh near Koscheck's hometown of Waynesburg.
But Pittsburgh, really?
"It really is an option," White told MMAjunkie.com. "It could happen. I'd love to have it in Toronto. That's where I'd love to have it. But Pittsburgh works, too."
Koscheck, of course, campaigned for the title fight to be held in Steel City soon after defeating Daley. Already a villain in most U.S. locales, he knows he'd be public enemy No. 1 in any Canadian city, where St-Pierre is quickly becoming one of the country's top mainstream athletes.
Additionally, with what Koscheck perceives to be a strained relationship with White, he knows he may not get any favors from the UFC executive. But he also knows that bad blood could lead to an exciting season of "TUF" and plenty of hype for the title fight – wherever it takes place.
"Dana obviously doesn't like me; he's already said that publicly because I'm not a team player," Koscheck told MMAjunkie.com over the weekend. "How the [expletive] can I not be a team player? I'm the guy that steps up and fights anybody when they need it. It's all [expletive]. If I'm not a team player, than I don't know what I am.
"But I respect Dana for what he's done. He's done a good job with this promotion. He's done a good job getting the UFC to where it is. I'm thankful for that because if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have a job. But he doesn't like me, (and) I don't like him. That's fine. I can just tell you that 'TUF 12' is going to be a hell of a [expletive] show. " Source www.mmajunkie.com
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