Exec:\u00a0UFC 315 was pass-the-torch moment in Canadian MMA
Exec: UFC 315 was pass-the-torch moment in Canadian MMA
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Dave Shaw has no answers on International Fight Week, and more
UFC executive Dave Shaw spoke to MMA Junkie and reporters at the UFC 315 post-fight press conference and talked the top storylines in Montreal.
MONTREAL – Montreal used to be one of the UFC's near-annual destinations. Then, without much warning, the well went dry.
From April 2008 through April 2015, a stretch of seven years, the UFC made seven trips to Bell Centre in Montreal. Four of those seven events were headlined by former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, a Montreal fixture.
Once St-Pierre retired, coincidence or not, the UFC stopped going to Montreal. UFC 315 on Saturday was the promotion's first trip back there in 10 years – a plight usually reserved for smaller cities like Louisville or places like Iowa, not Canada's second largest city. (To be fair, the onset of COVID in 2020 played a not-insignificant part in delaying the UFC's return to Montreal and many other cities.)
At UFC 315, three Canadian fighters had stellar performances that executive Dave Shaw said might be the changing of the guard for MMA in the country.
Aiemann Zahabi (13-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) upset UFC Hall of Famer and former featherweight champion Jose Aldo (32-10 MMA, 14-9 UFC) in an all-time performance for his fifth straight bantamweight win. He also did it after Aldo was going to come in nearly 10 pounds heavy and forced the fight to move to featherweight – after Zahabi had cut nearly all of his weight and Aldo had cut nearly none.
Mike Malott (12-2-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) brutally beat Charles Radtke (10-5 MMA, 3-2 UFC) with a first-round knockout, and did it in the name of Canada after Radtke decided to play a plastic patriot, anti-Canada, pro-right wing American supremacist promotional role.
And Jasmine Jasudavicius (14-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC) continued to grow her star with a bonus-winning submission win over former strawweight champion Jessica Andrade (26-14 MMA, 17-12 UFC).
"One hundred percent, (we have new Canadian stars) between Aiemann and Jas and Mike," Shaw said post-fight at UFC 315 after UFC CEO left without addressing the media, which he does after most pay-per-views. "The performances there were incredible. Saying the torch has been passed is a little bit cliche, but I think that these guys have put in a lot of work in the last few years. Some have had setbacks, haven't had the performances. But tonight certainly catapults them into the next tier, next chapter of MMA in this country."
Canada's been searching for its next MMA star without St-Pierre, and now it has some rising stars. And that alone could mean Canada will start seeing the kinds of numbers of events per year it was used to not long ago.
In particular, Shaw said Montreal will resume being a big player.
"In our minds, Montreal is a is a pay-per-view city," Shaw said. "There are a number of pay-per-view cities in Canada, and we're trying to get back to maybe three events a year (in the country). It certainly won't be as long as it's been before we return."
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