UFC eyes expansion to Abu Dhabi, Italy
Marshall Zelaznik, UFC’s U.K. Division President discussed the company’s international growth at today’s UFC 105 pre-fight press conference. Here are…
Marshall Zelaznik, UFC’s U.K. Division President discussed the company’s international growth at today’s UFC 105 pre-fight press conference. Here are the highlights…
On Future International Events: “I think it will still be the same number of international events,” Zelaznik said. “You’re still in that four-to-six range when you consider Canada. When it comes to European events, Germany is always on that list. It’s a market that we intend to continue to go back to time again and build that the way we did the U.K. The U.K. is always on the list. And then when it comes to other European territories, Italy has popped up as a frontrunner lately. I don’t know that we’ll see it in 2010, but you never know. We’re closer to a TV deal there.”
On Australia: “Even with Australia, we’re still finalizing all the little pieces that come together,” Zelaznik said. “You know us. The rumors are always out there way before we’re official with anything. But obviously we’re all talking about these events. We’re talking about them with the anticipation that we’ll be able to deliver them. You never know what happens on the way to the church sometimes, but I have every expectation Australia will happen. And (with) the Middle East, I have expectations, as well. We’ve got a lot of work. Next week we’re going to be working on Abu Dhabi.”
On Expanding The Events: “It’s something we talk about from time to time,” Zelaznik said. “A lot of it depends on our TV partners. We’re very lucky. We have a very strong partner now in the U.K. with ESPN. We’ve got a couple other TV deals ,which are helping the sport grow, and with those partnerships, we think we might be able to fancy something together. We could be putting on some of those ‘Fight Night’ events in 5,000-to-7,000 seat arenas and start getting the European fighters more active, bringing more fighters over the fans, getting into regions of the country that we can’t get into now like Wales or Scotland where the venues just aren’t big enough to bring a 15,000-seat event.”