International UFC Broadcasts 'Regionalized' to Feature Undercard Fights of Their Local Fighters

by Anton Tabuena on Aug 31, 2009 12:57 PM EDT

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The UFC, via their new UK TV deal with ESPN, will regionalize their future UK broadcasts starting with UFC 103. This would mean that all their local fighters that are fighting in the prelims will be televised before the broadcast of the PPV starts, giving the developing local talent a chance to gain traction with their hometown fans. Telegraph.co.uk has it:

ESPN is to regionalise UFC events in the future, by showing British fighters who may be in preliminary bouts on UFC events taking place elsewhere. This is a major step forward...

Clearly, the plan ESPN and the UFC have come up with is designed to cater for UK fans of the sport, and developing British fighters within the UFC. It is also a sign that ESPN are looking to put roots in for a long-term future with the sport.

While the report states that it will start on UFC 103 with Paul Daley's fight being shown in the UK, it has already begun for the broadcasts of other countries this past weekend. Mark Munoz's fight was one of the few UFC 102 preliminary bouts that weren't televised in the regular PPV, but due to the UFC 'regionalizing' the Philippine broadcast, his fellow Filipinos were able to watch him beat Nick Catone.

This is a great move by the UFC in helping their expansion in other countries. They would be able to market their up-and-coming fighters and help them develop a bigger fan base with the locals, while not having to sacrifice a slot in the main card. It's a win-win situation for both the company and fans abroad.

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Read More: ufc 102, broadcast, paul daley, mark munoz

Comments

just for the record,

i woke up at exactly 10am, (when the UFC 102 PPV is scheduled to start) and wasn’t able to see munoz fight ‘live’.. The replay though showed his fight so i’m assuming they also did show it during the live broadcast..

either way, they showed Munoz’s fight, and i’m happy that they’re doing it for international fighters.. It would help them get more name recognition with the locals even while they are still developing within the UFC..

weoweoweo .deviantart .com -- @antontabuena

by Anton Tabuena on Aug 31, 2009 1:02 PM EDT reply actions

Crap, now I have to start stealing feeds from Brazil, Japan, Canada…

Don't believe a word I say, I don't train BJJ.
I blog at TangleBones - you should follow me on Twitter here.

by jemaleddin on Aug 31, 2009 1:33 PM EDT up reply actions

or just wait for the fight vids to be posted in those mma video websites..

since they’ll be showing them in other countries, it’s bound to be posted in those sites a bit earlier than usual..

But stealing is bad.. don’t do it. ;)

weoweoweo .deviantart .com -- @antontabuena

by Anton Tabuena on Aug 31, 2009 1:36 PM EDT up reply actions

same thing happens in korea and elsewhere.

by mmalogic on Aug 31, 2009 1:49 PM EDT reply actions

since when though?

There weren’t any Filipino fighters on 101 and 100 so i wouldn’t know, and there weren’t any brits on 102 so telegraph said that they start at 103…

but it does seem like this has been happening earlier than 102 maybe..

weoweoweo .deviantart .com -- @antontabuena

by Anton Tabuena on Aug 31, 2009 1:52 PM EDT up reply actions

around the time when Lorenzo came on board and all these overseas TV deals improved and materialized…

with korea it was as soon as Kim was signed. His first fight was televised in Korea which garnered huge numbers.

Escodero will be featured in Mexico, etc…

by mmalogic on Aug 31, 2009 2:07 PM EDT up reply actions

People jumped all over Dana’s “big announcement” then, but looking back it really has had some major impact.

A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.

by iiowyn on Aug 31, 2009 2:12 PM EDT up reply actions

Enormous… If he didnt get on board There would have been a great possibility that a true Number 2 organization would have emerged because things are growing so fast that Dana would not have been able to service the demand.

Showtime is putting on 8 major shows and 8 minor… they would have siphoned off a good amount of the new demand.

Now with 24 major UFC shows and 12 minor all they’ll be doing is farting in a hurricane.

Also Zuffa wouldnt be able to consume most of the supply lines without having more shows… so from both fronts Showtime would have flanked Zuffa.

Instead Zuffa now has placed a blockade on all sides of showtimes borders and surrounded with all kinds of artillery.

by mmalogic on Aug 31, 2009 2:55 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

I always thought it was big news..

but of course i live outside the US.. it won’t affect Americans as much, so i get why most people don’t think that it’s huge..

weoweoweo .deviantart .com -- @antontabuena

by Anton Tabuena on Aug 31, 2009 10:34 PM EDT up reply actions

cofield kinda got it wrong though, in thinking that the televised fights (like daley’s or whoever) will mean that it will eliminate a fight from the normal PPV broadcast..

It’s just bonus fights without a catch, so i’m happy.

weoweoweo .deviantart .com -- @antontabuena

by Anton Tabuena on Aug 31, 2009 1:56 PM EDT up reply actions

hmmm

Not in Brazil though. Both SporTV and Combate channels (the TV deal that UFC has here) didn’t show anything but the U.S. PPV portion of the event.

by frozzen on Aug 31, 2009 3:36 PM EDT up reply actions

Almost every main caird has1 or more brazilians… MMA is becoming like soccer where the brazilians are just kicking ass.

by mmalogic on Sep 1, 2009 3:39 AM EDT up reply actions

They did this a while ago when they signed two swedish fighters as well, can’t recall the event but iirc both Per Eklund and David Bielkheden fought on that card and we got to see both prelims before the main event.

by jvxta on Aug 31, 2009 2:46 PM EDT reply actions