Dana White Reveals The Key To Attracting New Fans To The UFC

UFC President Dana White has named what he believes to be the most important aspect of the promotion when it comes to attracting new fans.

Since its inception in 1993, the UFC has grown into not only the most watched and renowned martial arts organization in the world, but also one of the leading entities in sport. Through White and the Fertitta brothers, the success of The Ultimate Fighter, and a continuously developing product, the UFC has grown into a multi-billion-dollar promotion, with millions watching around the globe.

And despite the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the UFC president boasted of a 40% fanbase growth in 2021. But even with that increase, White thinks that the key in attracting new fans lies in foreign events, something the promotion has been unable to do in recent times.

During an appearance on an episode of Blockasset’s BLOCK Party with Adam Catterall and Nick Peet, White spoke about the importance of the live experience in converting sports fans and casual mixed martial arts watchers into avid UFC viewers.

“Yeah, absolutely (live experiences bring fans). I mean, that’s why the sport grew as fast as it did. we’re great on TV, it’s a great product on television, but the live product is — there’s nothing like it, no other sport can even compare, live, to the UFC.

“So, as long as we can continue to travel around and introduce new people to the live — you don’t ever walk out of one of these fights and go, ‘Yeah, I don’t ever wanna see one of these again.’”

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the UFC was mostly forced to contain its events in the serene surroundings of the Apex facility in Las Vegas, with a few trips to Abu Dhabi marking the only ventures outside the United States.

Now, with many countries back open, the promotion has been able to return to London, and already has its French debut set for later this year. With that said, White is looking to take the Octagon worldwide in his pursuit of an even bigger fanbase.

White Targets Global Expansion

Having noted the importance of exposing as many countries as possible to the live UFC experience, White is hoping to take the promotion back on the road as much as possible moving forward.

Having already visited the likes of Poland, Australia, Canada, Sweden, Russia, Czech Republic, China, Germany, and the Netherlands, White is hoping to return to a number of past locations, as well as test the waters in new regions, including with a much-called for card in Africa.

“What we’re looking to do is — hopefully everywhere opens up again and the world starts running the way it did five years ago, and we can start going to these different territories that we’ve never been and get back to places that we haven’t been to in a long time,” said White.

“I’d like to get a fight back up in Toronto and other parts of Canada. We’re gonna go to France pretty soon. You know I wanna do Africa. We have our Singapore event coming up here, not this weekend but next weekend,” noted White. “The list goes on and on. I’m ready to start getting back to normal life and running this business like we did five years ago.”

With three UFC champions hailing from the continent, it seems only a matter of time until Africa gets its first dose of live UFC action. Beyond that, it seems that a UFC fully free from coronavirus limitations will truly return to its worldwide form.

Which countries would you like to see the UFC hold cards in down the line?

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