UFC goes big with weekend gathering in Vegas
By BOB EMANUEL JR. | Scripps Howard News Service
For the second year, the Ultimate Fighting Championship will transform its annual Independence Day weekend card into a multiday event in Las Vegas.
Like last year, the promotion will hold a two-day Fan Fest where fans can purchase merchandise and meet their favorite UFC personalities. The weekend will also feature the Hall of Fame inductions of Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar, multiple meet and greets with fans and a new tradition, a Fourth of July concert on Freemont Street in downtown Las Vegas, which this year features Canadian rock band Three Days Grace.
Neil Sanderson, Three Days Grace’s drummer since the band’s inception under the name Groundswell in 1992, can see the gig eventually morphing into worldwide prominence, much like the evolution of the National Football League’s Super Bowl halftime concerts.
“If you look at just how the UFC is growing exponentially worldwide, it’s the fastest growing sport to my knowledge, as far as awareness,” Sanderson said. “To be a part of it is super cool. There are certain sports that really complement music and vice versa. UFC and rock music kind of go hand in hand. It’s the sport that we love anyway.”
While Sanderson could not identify how the UFC gig came about, an existing relationship with UFC president Dana White likely jumpstarted the process. Members of the band attended last September’s UFC 152 event in Toronto.
“We’ve actually met Dana White a couple of times, and we’ve had drinks with those guys and we communicated to them that we’re big UFC fans,” Sanderson said. “Maybe that kind of stuck with them.”
Three Days Grace underwent major changes over the past eight months, with lead singer and frontman Adam Gontier resigning three days before Christmas. Matt Walst, the lead singer of My Darkest Days and the brother of Three Days Grace bassist Brad Walst, stepped in for the current tour and will likely be announced as the full-time vocalist later this year.
“Matt’s been around us, part of the family, since he was a kid,” Sanderson said. “He was that little kid in the basement hanging out while we were jamming when we were teenagers. He went on to have a successful career with his band. We approached him to see if he wanted to come and start singing for us. It became an amazing fit.”
While the concert and other hoopla may excite the thousands of fans in attendance, the primary draw remains UFC 162’s main event where UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva seeks to defend his belt against top contender Chris Weidman.
Weidman called for a title shot last year after he improved to 9-0 last July with a dominant victory over Mark Munoz. Weidman, 29, also has victories over Demian Maia and Urijah Hall.
“Weidman has been wanting this fight for a while, so I’m sure he is going to be very well prepared and he’s going to be able to show on the sixth how bad he really wants this,” Silva said. “And for me it’s to go out there and regardless of win or lose, I want to go out there and do my job and I want to return home to my kids in one piece.”
Silva, 38, hopes to build on his UFC-record 10 consecutive title defenses. Silva, 33-4, has not lost since January 2006, when he was disqualified in a bout against Yushin Okami.
Weidman praised the champ, who has won 17 consecutive fights — including all 16 in the UFC.
“I’ve been definitely a big fan,” Weidman said. “Ever since I got to the sport, he was a champion. So it’s a guy I’ve been keeping my eye on since Day One. Just like anybody else, you’ve got to love the guy, watching the guy fight. He’s relaxed out there, and he has done things that no one has done in the sport. So it’s always a pleasure to watch, and I definitely admire him.”
