As the sport of mixed martial arts continues to explode worldwide, UFC president Dana White spoke about the next evolution of the UFC and what fight fans can expect in 2012.
Speaking to a multitude of reporters, White stated that the recent agreement with Fox has provided the UFC with a mega platform to reach millions of fans across the globe.
“We’re going to put some serious programming on Fuel,” White stated.
Fuel TV is owned by Fox Cable Networks and currently features extreme sports including BMX, snowboarding, skateboarding and surfing, just to name a few.
This happy marriage with Fuel TV provides the UFC with the opportunity to continue to air live fights, as the UFC does currently on Versus.
Ecstatic about 2012, White was giddy when asked about the future of the UFC.
“It’s amazing what we’re going to do next year,” White stated. Divulging a dual-continent fight card, White explained that a back-to-back fight venue will take place in February of 2012
“A fight from Japan will go on live TV and then a pay-per-view live from the United States will air immediately afterwards. Both cards will be stacked,” White said.
The fight card in Japan will take place at the Saitama Super Arena and will be the first UFC venue in Japan since 2000.
Always listening to the fans and providing excellent matchups on free TV, White stated “the thing that we don’t do, and what boxing did a long time ago, is when the pay model started they started putting [expletive] fights on free TV and nobody ever wanted to watch it anymore. We don’t ever put [expletive] fights on free TV.”
Confident in the future growth of the UFC, dual-continent back-to-back fight venues occurring in the same evening will be a historic first for the sport’s biggest promotion.
This type of progressive thinking and out-of-the box delivery for the fans continues to drive the explosion of popularity for the UFC worldwide.
As a fight fan, I am elated to hear the future plans of the UFC in 2012. If you would like to listen to Dana White speaking about the future of the UFC and its explosion worldwide, please click here.
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