CALGARY — A changed fight card didn’t diminish the mood at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday as fans watched the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s sold-out debut in Alberta.
All five of the bouts originally announced for the event were dropped because of injuries and, in the days preceding the fight, sellers struggled to unload spare tickets.
UFC president Dana White took to Twitter on Saturday night, saying UFC 149 broke the gate record at the Dome, beating the Rolling Stones.
George Baptist was pumped to watch the mixed martial arts showdown in person and said he believed only scalpers were disappointed by the diminished fight card.
“Anybody who is really into UFC doesn’t care,” Baptist said. “It’s still awesome fights.”
Chris Marshall travelled from Edmonton with friends to take in the event and called the change in fighters “definitely a good deal for the last-minute fan.”
A friend who tagged along on Marshall’s trip, without a ticket, bought one outside of the Saddledome and paid one-third of what Marshall did for seats in the same area.
While his friend’s impressive savings stung him a little, Marshall was still excited.
“I’m disappointed, but at the same time, UFC did a good job of bringing in a fighter everyone is excited to see.. . . Considering, I think there was nine fighters hurt, it’s still a really good event.”
Sisters Erin Herson and Lauren Oswald bought tickets at a discounted price on Kijiji the night before the mixed martial arts showdown.
“We tried to get them off Ticketmaster, but they sold out in like two seconds, so we couldn’t get any. This was basically the last option,” said Herson.
Herson and Oswald were happy to save $25 off the face value of each ticket and said the change in fighters wouldn’t damper the evening.
“It’s all fun, anyway. I’m just happy it’s here,” said Herson, who has followed UFC for the past eight years.
Oswald said while she doesn’t like the sport as much as her sister, she was elated to be at the Saddledome on Saturday alongside more than 18,000 “well-behaved” fans.
“I’m loving it,” Oswald said. “No matter what type of person you are, it’s neat to see this sort of crowd just so into it. Everyone who we’ve bumped into is very nice.”
Naomi Stefura attended the sold-out event alongside her new husband.
Determined to surprise her husband-to-be with tickets, she paid for a UFC Fight Club membership to ensure first access to pre-sale tickets before Calgary’s big event,
“He’s a huge UFC fan, so I surprised him on our wedding day with a card with the tickets in it,” she said.
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