UFC Reserves Aug. 28 for Boston

The UFC has reserved Aug. 28 for its Boston debut, Dana White told the Boston Herald on Saturday. The pay-per-view event, which White said the promotion would announce at a later date, will be held at the 19,000-seat TD Garden.

In late November, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick signed legislation regulating the sport. Sen. James Timilty first proposed the legislation last year as a budget amendment, but it did not pass before the end of the session. It sailed through the state house of representatives and senate this year, and came out of a conference committee faster than expected.

The three-member state boxing commission will become the state athletic commission with two new members, including one with an extensive MMA background.

Marc Ratner, the UFC’s Vice-President of Regulatory Affairs, told Sherdog.com on Dec. 1 that the promotion was looking at smaller venues like the DCU Center in Worcester for “Fight Night” or World Extreme Cagefighting events, as well as Fenway Park for a forthcoming pay-per-view event.

Massachusetts natives Kenny Florian, Joe Lauzon, and Dan Lauzon will be but a few options for the August roster. Heavyweight contender Gabriel Gonzaga is a resident of the Bay State.

Jack Encarnacao contributed to this report.