Calgary's Scotiabank Saddledome will host UFC 149 (photo by James Teterenko)

By FCF Staff

The Ultimate Fighting Championship headed north to Calgary, Alberta, today to officially announce that the promotion will host an event in the Canadian city on July 21st.

UFC President Dana White confirmed that the UFC 149 card, which will be hosted by the city’s Scotiabank Saddledome, will feature a title defence by featherweight champion Jose Aldo. Who the champion will fight has not been determined yet.

Canadian competitors Mitch Clarke, Jason MacDonald and Calgary’s own Nick Ring were all in attendance for today’s event. No bouts for the July 21^st card were confirmed.

In addition to the upcoming Calgary card, Canadian Director of Operations Tom Wright confirmed that the promotion will return to Toronto, Ontario, on September 22^nd, and Montreal, Quebec, on November 17^th. All three Canadian events will be available via pay-per-view.

Although Wright referred to Toronto and Montreal as the “tent pole” markets for Canada, and that the promotion had not committed to a specific third Canadian city yet for 2013, White proceeded to state that Calgary would host a card again next year.

Georges St. Pierre participated in the presser via satellite feed, and revealed that the rehabilitation on his surgically repaired knee is going very well, and that his doctor says that it’s the “fastest” recovery he has ever seen.

The top ranked welterweight hopes to return to training in June and relayed that he would like to fight on the Montreal card in November if possible.

White proceeded to repeat previous statements that he’s made about St. Pierre, stating that the Canadian is “pound-for-pound” the biggest pay-per-view draw in the sport.

UFC 149 will mark the first time Aldo (21-1) has competed since January, when he knocked out Chad Mendes at UFC 142. The champion and pound-for-pound contender has won 14 straight fights.