UFC president Dana White will be in Toronto for UFC 297 on Jan. 20, but that won’t be all he’s up to while north of the border.
White will also be attending Unified MMA 55 on Jan. 19 to scout some Canadian talent. He’ll be appearing at the event as part of his television series Dana White: Lookin’ for a Fight.
It is likely the UFC president’s first time attending a regional event in Canada.
The television series first began airing in 2015 and centres around White and company going to venues in person and scouting talent to bring onto the roster.
All the fighters at Unified 55 should look to bring their best stuff as a big win in front of White could be a quick ticket into the UFC.
For instance, in 2017, White attended an event in New York where current second-ranked bantamweight contender Merab “the Machine” Dvalishvili knocked out his opponent in under 15 seconds and earned a UFC contract on the spot.
Unified MMA is Canada’s top mixed martial arts promotion and will be making its Toronto debut at the REBEL entertainment complex. The event will showcase a plethora of local talent as all scheduled fights have a Canadian involved.
“It’s an absolute honour to have Dana White and Lookin’ for a Fight team at Unified 55 in Toronto,” Sunny Sareen, founder and president of Unified MMA said in a statement on Thursday. “This was already going to be the biggest event in Unified MMA history, but this takes Unified 55 to a whole new level. “
Headlining the night will be fellow Canucks John “the Dragon” Nguyen (6-3-0) and Matteo “Carrapato” Vogel (8-3-0), who’ll be squaring off in a unification bout for the featherweight title.
Fighters will get a glimpse at what it’s like to be a part of a major promotional card the very next day when UFC 297 takes place at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto as the pay-per-view event will be making its return to the city after five years.
Most of the fighters from Unified MMA 55 will likely be watching and hoping to one day join the likes of Mike “Proper” Mallott (10-1-1), a Burlington, Ont. native, and the eight other Canadians fighting on home soil for the UFC that night.
The event will be headlined by middleweight champion Sean Strickland (28-5-0) taking on challenger Dricus Du Plessis (20-2-0), with the co-main event being a title fight between Mayra Bueno Silva (15-8-0) and Raquel Pennington (10-2-1) for the UFC’s vacant women’s bantamweight title.