The UFC confirmed its first fight in Mexico, as well as the first edition of the "The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America" reality series, on Tuesday. The series' first episode will air Aug. 11 and UFC 180 will be headlined by a heavyweight title bout between current champion Caín Velásquez and challenger Fabricio Werdum. That fight will take place Nov. 15 at Mexico City Arena (LA AFICION, 4/29). ... Brazil's National Business Confederation of Goods, Services & Tourism (CNC) is projecting that from April-June, 50,000 jobs will be created to welcome the estimated 600,000 foreign tourists that will visit the country for the World Cup, which will run from June 12-July 13 (OLE, 4/30). ... A group of protesters in Sao Paulo "clashed with police on Wednesday" while in Rio de Janeiro, "protesters again burned buses." The protests in Sao Paulo took place in the "eastern zone of the city, where the host stadium for the World Cup's first game -- Corinthians Arena -- is located" (EFE, 4/30). ... The Russian Football Union "has moved Russia's friendly match against Slovakia in May from Kazan to St. Petersburg, due to the poor state of the pitch in the capital of Tatarstan."
The Kazan Arena, which was built to host matches at the 2018 World Cup, "has yet to host a football match, despite being completed in May 2013" (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 4/30). ... Dubai "will host the sixth Fazza International Wheelchair Basketball Championships" -- IWBF West Asian Championship 2014 from May 10-15 at the Al Ahli Club. The event "has drawn teams from eight countries" -- Oman, Kuwait, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia besides hosts UAE (GULF NEWS, 4/30). ... The first big event at the new National Stadium -- the inaugural Rugby World Club 10s -- "will go ahead as planned." Reports earlier "claimed delays in the facility's completion had put the event under threat." There were reports that the new National Stadium's hybrid turfing "had run into problems," and that the facility's opening act -- the Rugby World Club 10s on June 21-22 -- "could be cancelled." But that uncertainty "has been put to rest" (CHANNEL NEWS ASIA, 4/30). ... Only a "few hundred tickets remain" for Sunday's A-League grand final between Brisbane Roar and Western Sydney Wanderers at Suncorp Stadium. Up to "10,000 Western Sydney fans will invade the River City." Online ticket provider viagogo said that it had recorded a 285% increase in "people searching for tickets to this year's grand final compared to last year" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 4/30).
