The Ultimate Fighting Championship has revealed that a “major” announcement is coming to the Rogers Centre in Toronto, ON on May 25th with both UFC President Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta expected to attend, setting off a firestorm of speculation that the promotion could be announcing an event in the city, which has long been considered a prize location by the UFC.

Ontario is one of the provinces in Canada that lacks MMA sanctioning and the UFC, Dana White and UFC Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner have been lobbying with elected officials to make the necessary changes to legalize the sport, while drumming up public support with events like the rally held at Toronto’s Eaton Centre a couple of months ago.

While the speculation is that an event held by the UFC at the Rogers Centre (formerly known as SkyDome) featuring UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre could draw in the neighborhood of 50,000 fans to the venue, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has been outspoken in his opposition to the lifting of the cagefighting ban and has stated that MMA regulation in his province is not a priority at this time.

A possible UFC event in Toronto would follow previous events in Montreal (UFC 83, UFC 97, UFC 113) and an upcoming event in Vancouver (UFC 115), all of which are proving to be big money for the host cities and the provinces. Ontario would stand to gain millions of dollars in tax revenues with a UFC event and while there is no indication that a change in the law is coming, it wouldn’t be the first time that politicians listened to their wallets to guide policy.

UPDATE: Joe Ferraro from the Canadian sports channel Sportsnet is reporting that not only is there the possibility that the announcement could see the filming of TUF 12 in Canada before the possible event at Rogers Centre featuring Georges St. Pierre and Josh Koscheck, but there is also a chance that the UFC could be opening a head office in Toronto with former WWE Executives Carl DeMarco and Shane McMahon possibly being involved with running the office. McMahon is also rumored to be pursuing a 5-10% stake of ownership in the company.

Nokaut