From the second-biggest Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-view of 2013 to the consensus fight of the year, the Great White North hosted its share of memorable moments in the world of UFC over the past 12 months.

Looking back at the year that was, plus the year to come, UFC director of Canadian operations Tom Wright went 1-on-1 with Postmedia News MMA reporter Dave Deibert, discussing Georges St-Pierre, The Ultimate Fighter in Canada, 2014 Canadian events and more …

On whether Canada needs Georges St-Pierre, who announced in November he was relinquishing his welterweight title and taking an indefinite leave, citing burnout and personal issues:

“As you know, on a per-capita basis, Canada still is still the largest consuming nation in the world for mixed martial arts and the UFC. I firmly believe that we’ll continue to be in that position,” said Wright. “I also believe that Georges will fight again. I don’t think anybody knows exactly when. I think everybody would agree that if anybody has deserved and earned the right to take some time to himself and to try and bring a little bit of balance to his life, it would be Georges. Georges has done more for the sport in Canada than anybody else and you could argue that there’s not that many that have done more for the sport internationally than Georges has.”

On if there is a bigger burden on 24-year-old Kelowna, B.C. native Rory MacDonald, with the absence of GSP:

“There’s bound to be. That’s what goes when you’re a top-five ranked fighter in the world in your weight division,” said Wright. “The attention’s been on Rory for quite some time, actually. Ever since he nearly beat out Carlos Condit in Vancouver at UFC 115, I think people have been talking about him as the next great welterweight, not so much the next great Canadian … I’m a big Rory MacDonald fan. I think he’s going to continue to shine. I’m a huge TJ Grant fan. I just want to make sure his (concussion) issues are taken care of. I know he does, too.”

On the Canadian schedule in 2014. Wright said there would be more events in the country this year than the previous high of three. He also confirmed there would be the annual tent-pole cards in Montreal (spring) and Toronto (autumn). Other rumoured events, though Wright would not confirm — an expected April 16 date in Quebec City for the season finale of The Ultimate Fighter: Canada vs. Australia, plus a potential summer date in a western Canadian city:

“Quebec City has always been on our radar, as has Halifax, as has Saskatoon, as has Edmonton. There’s a whole bunch of cities on our radar.”

On why this was the year to finally launch a Canadian version of The Ultimate Fighter, which debuts Wednesday (Sportsnet, 10 p.m. ET) with a Canada versus Australia theme:

“You’ve always heard me say, I would only recommend to (CEO) Lorenzo (Fertitta) and (president) Dana (White) that we do a program, we do a reality show, we do an Ultimate Fighter, when financially it made sense, and we could make sure that it was the right time from a product development and an athlete development point of view. The marriage of Australia and Canada being under our responsibility at UFC Canada provided that opportunity to bring together several broadcast partners … We have an opportunity to properly prepare for it, to properly sell in merchandising and properly sell in sponsorship, and properly monetize the broadcasting rights. This was the right time to do it.”