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UFC headed back to Canada with UFC on ESPN+ 8 in Ottawa, including Brunson-Theodorou
The UFC is set to return to Canada in May with a second trip to the market in Ottawa, the nation’s capital city.
UFC on ESPN+ 8 takes place May 4 at the Canadian Tire Centre in Kanata, Ontario, a west suburb of Ottawa. The card will stream on ESPN+. Promotion officials announced the card and seven fights for the event today.
The promotion first visited the market in June 2016 with UFC Fight Night 89 at TD Place Arena in Ottawa. That venue holds a little more than 10,000 fans, but Canadian Tire Centre, home to the Ottawa Senators NHL team, has a capacity of nearly twice that of TD Place Arena.
While the show does not have have a main event announced, a middleweight fight between Derek Brunson (18-7 MMA, 9-5 UFC) and Canada’s own Elias Theodorou (16-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) is the standout among the first bookings.
Brunson will be trying to snap a two-fight skid of TKO losses in 2018 to Ronaldo Souza and Israel Adesanya. Prior to that, he had back-to-back knockout wins over Daniel Kelly and former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida.
Theodorou has won three straight fights and five of his past six. All five of those wins have come by decision against Sam Alvey, Cezar Ferreira, Kelyl, Trevor Smith and, most recently, an upset of Eryk Anderson at UFC 231 in Toronto this past December.
In addition, the card features a heavyweight bout between Juan Adams (5-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) and Arjan Singh Bhullar (8-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC); Leah Letson (5-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) vs. Sarah Moras (5-4 MMA, 2-3 UFC) in a women’s bantamweight bout; Merab Dvalishvili (8-4 MMA, 1-2 UFC) vs. “TUF” winner Brad Katona (8-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) at bantamweight; the promotional debut of Canadian two-division champion Marc-Andre Barriault (11-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) against “TUF” winner Andrew Sanchez (10-4 MMA, 3-2 UFC) at middleweight; and Mitch Gagnon (12-4 MMA, 4-3 UFC) vs. Brian Kelleher (19-10 MMA, 3-3 UFC) and Vince Morales (8-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) vs. Aiemann Zahabi (7-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) in bantamweight bouts.
The UFC on ESPN+ 8 card currently includes:
- Derek Brunson vs. Elias Theodorou
- Juan Adams vs. Arjan Singh Bhullar
- Leah Letson vs. Sarah Moras
- Merab Dvalishvili vs. Brad Katona
- Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Andrew Sanchez
- Mitch Gagnon vs. Brian Kelleher
- Vince Morales vs. Aiemann Zahabi
For more on UFC on ESPN+ 8, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.
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