The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) brings the UFC experience to fans in Montreal on Wednesday, March 13, 2013 with L’Experience UFC, a full day of publicand free events at complexe Desjardins in anticipation of UFC 158: ST-PIERRE vs. DIAZ at the Bell Centre on March 16. Fans can enjoy UFC 158 open workouts, interactive games, special guest appearances and more.
Located in the heart of downtown Montreal, complexe Desjardins is a city within a city and is the largest building in the metropolitan area. The UFC will hold its open workouts in the Grande-Place and will showcase the best of the UFC welterweight division including five of the UFC’s Top 10 170-pounders. Hometown hero and reigning UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre (23-2), former STRIKEFORCE champion Nick Diaz (27-8-1, fighting out of Stockton, California), former interim UFC welterweight champion Carlos Condit (28-6, fighting out of Albuquerque, N.M.), power-punching wrestler and current No.1 ranked contender Johny Hendricks (14-1, fighting out of Dallas, Texas), former US Marine Jake Ellenberger (28-6, fighting out of Lake Forest, Calif. by way of Omaha, Neb.), former STRIKEFORCE champion Nate Marquardt (35-11-2, fighting out of Denver, Colorado) and Montreal’s own Patrick Côté (19-8) will all participate.
In addition to UFC 158 open workouts, Firas Zahabi, renowned mixed martial arts (MMA) trainer and head coach of Georges St-Pierre, will lead a group of celebrity (non-MMA) athletes and contest winners in a one-hour workout inside the Octagon. Some of the participants include Montreal Alouettes Anthony Calvillo and Pat Lavoie, Olympians Bruny Surin, Marianne St. Gelais and Charles Hamelin, and former NHLers Georges Laracque, Mathieu Dandenault and Denis Gauthier.
L’Experience UFC also features a fun and interactive fan zone offering fans a chance to pose with a UFC belt. Spectators can test their skills with a punch strength machine, vertical jump test, pull-up bar and push-up station. Fans can also enjoy two autograph sessions. UFC welterweight Rory MacDonald (14-1), who trains out of Montreal’s Tristar Gym, will be on hand to sign autographs from 10-11 am, while former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes (46-9) will be on site from 3-4 pm.
Martial arts will be on display all day in the Grande-Place as students from Karaté Sunfuki Longueuil, a local karate school in Longueuil, will perform two karate demonstrations inside the Octagon.
Please see below for a full schedule of the day’s events on March 13 at complexe Desjardins.
8:00 a.m. Fan Zone Opens
10:00 a.m. Autograph Signing with UFC® Welterweight Rory MacDonald
10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. Karaté Sunfuki Longueuil Student Karate Demonstration
11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. UFC® 158 Open Workouts
11:00-12:00 Condit & Ellenberger
12:00-1:00 Diaz & Hendricks
1:00-2:00 St-Pierre & Marquardt & Cote
3:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. Autograph Signing with Former UFC® Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes
3:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. Karaté Sunfuki Longueuil Student Karate Demonstration
4:00 p.m. Celebrity MMA Seminar led by MMA Coach Firas Zahabi of Tristar Gym
6:00 p.m. Fan Zone Closes
*THIS EVENT IS COMPLETELY FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
