What do you think needs to change for Brazilian MMA to become like it is nowadays in the US?

I did five events in Brazil and the tough [part] about Brazil is the fans. The fans buy the tickets too close to the event and the promoters don’t have incentive to do events. The problem is that they have to buy tickets... We do one event there, we don’t get any money and we won’t do another. We have a lot of fighters, and UFC didn’t come to Brazil yet because of that. The first time we went there, a lot of people tried to enter [for free] because [they said they were the] friend of someone... On the other hand, the country is wonderful, the people are beautiful, everybody loves to go to Brazil, and we have the best fighters. We need the fans to contribute with the MMA.

-- Mario Yamasaki. Photo by Forrest Hickman.