The UFC is going back to Toronto. UFC 336 will take place January 30, 2027, at Scotiabank Arena, the promotion announced during Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 291 broadcast from Edmonton. No fights are official yet. Tickets go on sale next month, and the UFC Canada account on X listed a 9 p.m. ET main card start. Aaron Bronsteter of Sportsnet also flagged the news on X shortly before the official posts went up.
Per MMA Junkie, it’s the UFC’s first numbered event of 2027, and its first stop in Canada’s largest city in more than three years. The timing of the reveal was a nice touch. The Edmonton card featured a record 12 Canadian fighters on a single event, so the promotion had a friendly room for the plug.
The last time the octagon set up in Toronto was UFC 297 in 2024, when Dricus Du Plessis took the middleweight title from Sean Strickland. Cageside Press noted that the UFC 297 gate set a Canadian record for the company at the time. Strickland has since climbed back to the middleweight throne, though Cageside reports he appears to be in a contract dispute with the UFC right now, so don’t pencil him in for a homecoming rematch with the city anytime soon.
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The broadcast change matters more than the date
The bigger shift for Canadian fans is how they’ll watch. Numbered events moved from pay-per-view to Paramount+ in the U.S. and other markets in 2026, but Canada stayed stuck on PPV pricing for those cards. Sportsnet remains the UFC’s broadcaster up north, with numbered events sold separately. That ends in January. UFC 336 is the first numbered card that Canadians will get on Paramount+, putting them on the same footing as fans south of the border.
The UFC has generally made two trips to Canada per year since it got back to normal scheduling after the pandemic years at the Apex and on Fight Island, per Cageside. Edmonton was one. Toronto opens the next cycle.
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As for the headliner, the name floating around is Islam Makhachev (29-1 MMA, 18-1 UFC), who now holds the welterweight title, against Carlos Prates (24-7 MMA, 7-1 UFC). Both Cageside Press and MMA Junkie reported it as a rumor, and the UFC made no fights official during the announcement. Treat it as talk until a contract gets signed.
Quick take
If Makhachev vs. Prates lands, that’s a real fight, and Toronto deserves one. Prates is 7-1 inside the octagon, and a champion with one career loss in 30 fights is exactly who you test a guy with that kind of run against. My bigger interest is the business side. UFC 297 set a Canadian gate record when fans were still paying PPV prices to watch at home, and now the arena is the only place that costs extra. I’d expect the building to sell fast when tickets drop next month, and I’d expect the matchmakers to stack the prelims with Canadians after the 12-fighter showing in Edmonton. January 30 is a little over three months out. The card needs a main event soon.
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