In the clash between titanic heavyweights Junior Dos Santos and Alistair Overeem, the UFC would benefit more from the latter fighter winning.
In fact, it’s crucial to the UFC’s success in Europe that Overeem does win.
The UFC has had big plans for Europe.
First it conquered the UK (and Ireland) and turned the British Isles into a veritable MMA hotbed. It then used the UK as a springboard to Europe proper, holding shows in Germany and soon Sweden. The UFC also plans to expand the brand’s presence in Europe by holding events in Spain, Italy and France.
Part of succeeding in a new territory is having “home grown” fighters for the native fans to root for (or, to put it in more realistic terms, purchase tickets/tune in for).
If Overeem beats Dos Santos and captures the UFC heavyweight championship, this problem will be solved. The Europeans will have more than a notable fighter—they’ll have a UFC champion.
Overeem’s hypothetical victory will also help the UFC in Europe in other ways besides giving the organization a marketable European superstar. It’ll help them fill the roster with European fighters down the road.
As it stands now, there simply aren’t that many great European fighters for MMA fans across the pond to love and admire. The high-echelon European fighters in the UFC are Michael Bisping, Alistair Overeem and Alexander Gustafsson. Then there are some mid- to low-level Europeans like Stefan Struve, Vladimir Matyushenko, Alessio Sakara and others.
That’s quite a small amount of Europeans to stretch into several different European cards.
However, if Overeem wins at UFC 146, European youth will have an MMA champion to look up to, to daydream about being the same way American kids daydream about being Tom Brady or Peyton Manning (or perhaps even a jilted Tim Tebow).
Overeem’s win can and will popularize MMA in Europe, which will mean more people will train, which will mean the UFC will eventually have more European fighters to market there ,which will get more people to train. It’ll be a positive feedback loop that practically guarantees the UFC success.
However, that’s only if Alistair Overeem wins at UFC 146.
So when you’re watching the clash of the two powerful heavyweight strikers, know there’s more at stake than just the belt; the timetable of the UFC’s success in Europe is at stake.
If Overeem loses, the UFC will still eventually triumph but at a slower rate, while an Overeem victory will be the catalyst that finally makes the UFC and MMA a force in European sports.
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