RIO DE JANEIRO – The UFC is committed to a Brazilian event in 2012, and it could be one for the record books.
On Saturday, the organization hosts UFC 134 at Rio de Janeiro's HSBC Arena, and the venue's approximately 14,000 seats sold out in a staggering 74 minutes.
Thanks to that success, the organization now is planning a visit to Manaus, the capital of the state of Amazonas. And a massive venue could host the show.
On Tuesday, UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta met with local officials to discuss a possible show at the Convention Center of Manaus (one of many "sambadromes" located throughout the country), an outdoor venue that can hold up to 100,000 fans. The city's metro area includes more than two million residents.
"Our expectation is that Manaus will set a new attendance record with 100,000 people watching the show," Feritta said.
Such an event could shatter records that, in fact, were shattered just a few months ago. Back in April, the organization hosted UFC 129 at Toronto's Rogers Centre. The UFC's first-ever stadium show drew 55,724 attendees for a $12.075 million gate.
Both marks set North American and UFC records. The previous records were $5.4 million (UFC 66) and 23,152 (UFC 124).
The world's largest reported MMA crowd in history attended PRIDE Shockwave 2002 at Tokyo National Stadium in Japan. Officials put the attendance mark at 91,107, though it's impossible to verify and was likely a smaller total.
Source: UFC's 2012 return to Brazil could be hosted by 100,000-seat venue
