The UFC made its first trip north of the border in 2008 for UFC 83 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The card was headlined by the rematch between Matt Serra, who was the welterweight champion, and Georges St-Pierre, who was the interim champ.
The card did very well. The Bell Centre was filled with 21,390 excited fans and their hometown guy, St-Pierre, brought them to their feet, earning a TKO victory with devastating knees to unify the two belts.
Since then, the UFC has set up shop in the Great White North a total of 32 times, with the next event, UFC 297, happening Jan. 20. Dricus Du Plessis will challenge Sean Strickland for the middleweight belt, while Raquel Pennington will fight Mayra Bueno Silva for the vacant women's bantamweight strap.
Since 2012, Canadians as favorites fighting on home soil are 49-19, as well as 1-0 at EVEN money. When they have battled as underdogs, they have a losing record, going 22-35-0-2.
- Favorites 49-19
- Underdogs 22-35-0-2
- EVEN money 1-0
There’s an advantage to fighting in your home country, with the familiarities and the lack of travel. I’ve also noticed that the UFC will typically give those fighters winnable fights to excite the home crowd – that’s purely my opinion based on what I’ve seen. Looking to take advantage of this trend? Take a look at the Canadians who are fighting this weekend in Toronto for UFC 297.
- Mike Malott -350 vs Neil Magny
- Marc-Andre Barriault +162 vs Chris Curtis
- Brad Katona -188 vs Garrett Armfield
- Charles Jourdain -200 vs Sean Woodson
- Serhiy Sidey -175 vs Ramon Taveras
- Gillian Robertson -300 vs Polyana Viana
- Yohan Lainesse -150 vs Sam Patterson
- Jasmine Jasudavicius -400 vs Priscila Cachoeira
- Malcolm Gordon -200 vs Jimmy Flick
Eight of the nine Canadians competing at UFC 297 are favorites. Knowing what we know about how Canadians favorites perform on home soil, a bet on the chalk is in order. Perhaps even a chalky parlay could work, too.
