The UFC has been granted the opportunity to host an event in Rio de Janeiro this weekend, showcasing some of the best talent that Brazil has to offer.
UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira are three of the nation’s most prominent fighters and will all be competing on the main card, holding their own storylines in each of their respective bouts.
UFC CEO, Lorenzo Fertitta, spoke with MMAFighting.com about the economic impact UFC 134 has generated. He said he expects the event to draw similar numbers to UFC 129 in Toronto, Ontario.
“We’ve got a ton of people traveling from the United States, Europe, of course from inside Brazil. The majority of people coming to Rio are from Sao Paulo, so we are filling the hotel rooms, filling the restaurants, you can kind of feel the buzz around town already,” Fertitta said.
And one of the reasons why UFC 134 is expected to do so well is because of Anderson Silva, who will be featured in the main event against Yushin Okami.
Silva has acquired a number of sponsorship deals in his homeland and Fertitta said it all has to do with Silva’s most recent victory over fellow Brazilian, Vitor Belfort.
“It’s unbelievable. He’s had a meteoric rise since that fight,” he said.
“It’s almost like the country has this hero that they’re embracing, at the same scale as a Ronaldo or some of the big soccer players. He’s getting Nike, Burger King and massive sponsors.”
Fertitta also added the UFC plans to host four more events in Brazil within the next year.
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