UFC Canada 2012: Sam Stout, Mark Hominick Fights Set for Early 2012

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is coming off an incredible year of growth in 2011 in which the organization held a record 27 fight-card events and broke ground in new countries all over the world. There is no plan to slow down in 2012 as the UFC has tentatively set 34 dates to hold events this coming year and are set to entertain in even more countries like Japan in February and recently announced a Sweden show for later this year.

Canadian Events in 2012

Three events were held on Canadian soil in 2011 with one in Vancouver B.C. along with the first two shows in Toronto, Ontario. The fights and shows delivered  last year prove that Canada has a special place in the hearts of the UFC and the UFC has a special place in the hearts of Canadian MMA fans.

UFC Director of Canadian Operations Tom Wright stated to MMAFighting.com recently that the UFC will hold the same number of events in Canada this year but unlike 2011, no city will get a double dip in 2012. Unlike in 2010 when Montreal got two events, and 2011 when Toronto got two events, the UFC will only appear in each city once. 

UFC 145 has already been announced for The Bell Center in Montreal on March 24th, and one can assume that Toronto will be a Canadian destination in 2012. The question is, what city will hold the third event as rumours remain strong that the UFC will not return to Vancouver this calendar year? The front runner for the third Canadian event seems to be Calgary, and there are also thoughts of some smaller "Fight Night" shows being held up here as well.

With the announcement late last year that there will be a TUF Canada show in the future as well, the UFC is staying hot and active in Canada in 2011.

UFC Canadian Fighters in 2012

Canada currently has 18 fighters signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championships. Here is a quick snap shot of what is on tap for all of them to start 2012.

Honorable Mention goes to Canadian welterweight Jordan Mein, who is set to fight Tyron Woodley for the welterweight title at Strikeforce Rockhold vs. Jardine on Saturday January 7, 2012. Strikeforce is owned by Zuffa, who also own the UFC, so Mein gets mention here.

Mark Bocek, lightweight—He's set to fight Matt Wiman at UFC 145 in Montreal on March 24, 2012.

Antonio Carvalho, featherweight—He's set to make his UFC debut in a fight against Felipe Arantes at UFC 142 in Brazil on January 15th, 2011.

Mitch Clarke, lightweight—He lost his debut against John Cholish at UFC 140 in Toronto in December 2011. Nothing has been confirmed or announced for Clarke in 2012.

Mitch Gagnon, bantamweight—He's set to make his UFC debut against Johnny Bedford at UFC on Fox Evans vs Davis on January 28 in Chicago.

T.J. Grant, lightweight—He was recently forced out of his fight with Jakob Volkmann on December 30, 2011 due to injury. Nothing has been confirmed or announced for Grant in 2012.

Mark Hominick - featherweight—He's set to fight Eddie Yagin at UFC 145 Montreal on March 24, 2012.

Yves Jabouin, featherweight—He's coming off a nice decision win against Walel Watson on December 10, 2011 in Toronto. Nothing has been confirmed or announced for Jabouin in 2012. 

Ryan Jimmo, light heavyweight—He's set to make his UFC debut against Karlos Vemola at UFC On Fox 1 on January 20, 2012 in Nashville.

Jason MacDonald, middleweight—Nothing has been confirmed or announced for MacDonald in 2012.

Rory MacDonald, welterweight—He's set to fight Che Mills at UFC 145 in Montreal on March 24, 2012.

John Makdessi, lightweight—He's coming off loss to Dennis Hallman at UFC 140 on December 10, 2011. Nothing has been announced or confirmed for Makdessi in 2012.

Ivan Menjivar, bantamweight—He's set to fight John Albert at UFC On Fuel TV 1 on February 15, 2012 in Omaha.

Claude Patrick, welterweight—He's coming off decision loss to Brian Ebersole at UFC 140 on December 10, 2011. Nothing has been announced or confirmed for Patrick in 2012.

Sean Pierson,welterweight—He's coming off decision loss to Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 141 on December 30, 2011. Nothing has been announced or confirmed for Pierson in 2012.

Nick Ring, middleweight—He's coming off the first loss of his career to Tim Boestch in September, Nothing has been announced or confirmed for Ring in 2012.

Sam Stout, lightweight—He's set to fight Thiago Tavares at UFC 142 in Brazil on January 15, 2011

George St. Pierre, welterweight—He's recovering from knee surgery he had done in December 2011. The recovery and rehab is expected to take eight to nine months, so we won't see St. Pierre in the octagon until late 2012.

Dwight Wakabayashi is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA and correspondent for MMACanada.net.

Catch him on Facebook and Twitter at wakafightermma.