RP set as Ultimate Fighting Championship's Southeast Asian hub
By ROY MEDINA, abs-cbnNEWS.com | 09/22/2008 7:08 PM
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Filipino mixed martial arts fans will surely have something big to look forward to in 2009 as the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the world's premiere mixed martial arts (MMA) organization, is planning to expand to Southeast Asia by next year and plans to use the Philippines as its base of operations.
"We're expanding into Southeast Asia, and we wanna use the Philippines and Manila as a springboard to make it happen," Lorenzo Fertitta, chairman and chief executive of Zuffa, LLC, the media and entertainment company that owns UFC, told sports reporters during a media day at ABS-CBN's 9501 restaurant in Quezon City on Monday.
Fertitta, who arrived with two-time UFC lightweight champion Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell over the weekend, said that the sport has grown so big in America that at times, it has exceeded ratings of other popular sporting events in the US.
"You may or may not know it but the UFC has become one of the largest sports franchises in the United States. The ratings on our TV shows exceeded the NBA, at times exceeded the NFL, exceeded the Major League Baseball, so we've grown tremendously in the United States and Canada," he added.
The next logical step, said Fertitta, is to bring the UFC to the world.
"We're expanding into Europe, we have an office in the UK, we're planning fights in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Finland, Denmark," the UFC big boss added.
Two guys slugging it out
Fertitta explained how and why the UFC has grown so much in appeal and cult following within the last seven years since it was acquired by Zuffa in 2001.
"One of the things we've found is that the UFC translates very well. Some sports don't necessarily translate very well. People outside America don't necessarily understand football, people in America don't understand cricket," he said.
Fertitta said that with this in mind, it would translate to the thinking that " if you dont understand the rules, you don't get it."
The great thing about the UFC, he said, is that it goes everywhere and people can immediately relate to it..
"Fighting is in our DNA. Everyone loves to watch when you put two guys in The Octagon using any martial art they want, and everybody gets it right away," he said.
UFC in Manila by May
Fertitta, meanwhile, has this to say when asked to elaborate on UFC's plan to establish a base in the Philippines:" We're currently working on it right now, there's a lot of planning and a lot of things that have to be put in place to bring in an event of that size and magnitude over here."
He said that the UFC, together with ABS-CBN, plans to organize something by May 2009.
"We're hoping that we can organize something for the summertime, maybe around May," he said.
However, a lot of things will come into play, he added.
Despite these factors, Fertitta assured UFC fans that, "Definitely, we're going to be here in the Philippines as soon as we possibly could."
Huge market
The UFC head honcho said they were surprised at the huge turnout at the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City on Sunday when Liddell had an open workout there.
"When we went to the Mall of Asia yesterday (Sunday), we had an incredible turnout. Just walking down the street, everybody recognized Chuck Liddell," he said.
Fertitta said that following the warm welcome received on Sunday, they are now more certain of the UFC's chances in the Philippines.
"We love the Philippines, the UFC wants to come here and put on a big show, and become a part of the sports industry here," he said.
He added that the probability of the UFC to establish a Philippine base of operations is "very high."
"I think it's a very high percentage, almost 100 percent," he said, adding that the UFC is already committed to the Filipino market.
"We love the fans here, we think we can build a real business here and we'll be here for sure," he said.
MMA explained; fighter safety on top
A UFC fact sheet explains MMA as "an intense and evolving combat sport in which competitors use interdisciplinary forms of fighting."
These fighting forms include jiu-jitsu, judo, karate, boxing, kickboxing, wrestling and others.
Scoring for MMA events is based on athletic commission-approved definitions for striking (blows with the hands, feet, knees or elbows) and grappling (submission, choke holds, throws or takedowns).
"No single discipline reigns," UFC said.
Despite the intensity and the physical nature of MMA, the UFC as an organization said fighter safety is very important.
"Fighter safety is of paramount concern to UFC owenership and management: it is noteworthy that no competitor has even been seriously injured in a UFC event," it said.
