While this past week brought a bit of bad news for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the promotion's president, Dana White, said he isn't losing any sleep over it.
The Bavarian state office for new media (BLM) announced this past Thursday that the UFC has been banned from German airwaves, but White said he expects a return to television partner DSF in the future.
White also said the ruling doesn't mean that Germany, host of June 2009's UFC 99 event, won't see a live card in the meantime.
"It hasn't bummed me out," White told Media crews regarding the announcement. "These kind of things are going to happen. It won't be the last time."
White said despite the apparent setback in a market that had appeared to be already established, the UFC was not planning on slowing its current global expansion. In fact, he expects to continue to run into these types of issues as the organization pushes into new markets.
"This is going to continue to happen in certain places, and I think we're probably going to have to get another seven, eight, 10 years under our belt before this stuff goes away and stops happening," White said.
DSF currently airs tape-delayed fight cards from the UFC, as well as "The Ultimate Fighter" and "UFC Unleashed," and has been doing so since March 2009. An official date for the ban to begin has yet to be announced.
White said while the announcement was certainly a setback, it wasn't a position unfamiliar to the company. The UFC was famously banned from U.S. pay-per-view broadcast prior to its 2001 sale to current owners Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta.
"We're working on it, White said. "It's one of those things that it is what it is. There's some political [expletive] going on there, and we don't really have our arms around what it is yet, but we're going to get in there, and we're going to figure it out.
"It's obviously the first time we've been told that we might be taken off television, but it's not the first time we've battled this type of adversity. We'll get over this."
In the meantime, White said German MMA fans shouldn't expect to be snubbed by the UFC. While the organization does currently have any plans to visit the country, the ban doesn't necessarily mean Germany won't potentially host another UFC event.
"It doesn't mean that at all," White said. "If they take it off TV, it doesn't mean we wouldn't still go there and do an event."
I mayself wonder if the Boxing promoters in Germany have something to do with this due to their big money earning maybe a fear ufc could take away some fans..these are just my thoughts as i know how shady boxing and promoters are..its all politics
_________________
..::UFC 162 Silva vs Weidman Competition Winner::.. ..::UFC 159 Jones vs. Sonnen Competition Winner::.. 2013
..::UFC on Fuel TV 2 Gustafsson vs. Silva Competition Winner::.. 2012
..::Strikeforce - Diaz vs. Cyborg Competition Winner::..
..::UFC Fight For The Troops 2 Competition Winner::.. 2011
..::Strikeforce Nashville Competition Winner::.. ..::Strikeforce Challengers 9 Winner::.. 2010
|