Global versions of "The Ultimate Fighter" could focus on talent for the WEC
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – UFC president Dana White has long promised that he along with his fight promotion, he is also bringing "The Ultimate Fighter" global.
But while the U.S. version of the show, currently airing its 11th season on Spike TV, focuses on the various weight classes utilized by the UFC, White said forthcoming versions of the show in other countries will likely feed talent to the lighter weight classes of the WEC.
"Definitely," White told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
While Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of the UFC, purchased the WEC in 2006, the promotion's current format of focusing on the sport's lighter weight classes has only been in place for a little more than a year. The WEC has taken that time to build up such stars as featherweight champion Jose Aldo and lightweight champion Benson Henderson, who will each play prominent roles in the organization's first pay-per-view event, "Aldo vs. Faber," this Saturday night.
But White believes as the sport of mixed martial arts continues its expansion, many of the athletes jumping into the game will be best-suited for the lighter weight classes of the WEC, and the talent pool of the organization will benefit from the shift.
"Building these smaller weight divisions is going to take time," White said. "One of the things that I was talking earlier about was getting down into South America, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and all these other places. As the sport starts to grow down there, you're going to see a lot of Hispanic guys in those lighter weight divisions start to dominate. It's just like boxing.
"I think in mixed martial arts, you're going to start to see American guys who would have played other sports now getting into mixed martial arts, and you're going to see a lot of guys from Mexico and Puerto Rico and South America getting into it because there's money in it. I think they're going to dominate those lighter weight divisions."
And White believes that's where worldwide versions of "The Ultimate Fighter" could prove effective in talent recruiting.
"There literally isn't a place in the world that I couldn't get a fighter from right now – literally, any country in the world," White said. "We're bringing 'The Ultimate Fighter' to all these different countries, and the hardest part in doing it is the format. You've got to the format, you've got to go out and get a television deal. There's a lot more to it. Getting the fighters and putting them on the show, that's the easy part."
White believes that format will likely include lighter weight classes, and he points to the level of competition that has grown around former WEC champion Urijah Faber as an example of how easy it will be to find deserving fighters.
"When Urijah started here seven years ago, it wasn't that easy to find guys," White said. "But that's how fast this thing is growing. The reality is this is the new martial art. If you're a parent, and you're kid wants to (train) – we used to take tae kwon do or karate – you're going to put your kid in mixed martial arts classes. It's happening all over the world.
"Not only are more and more people getting involved in it, and training in it, guys like Chuck (Liddell) and Randy (Couture) and Matt (Hughes) all came from one style and had to learn all these other things when they were older. These kids that are growing up today are doing mixed martial arts. It's just going to get more and more exciting as these kids start to grow up."
White still believes the Middle East will be the first region to receive an international version of "The Ultimate Fighter," but just as the UFC continues to expand around the globe, so too will the reality TV-based competition – whether it focuses on finding talent for the UFC or WEC.
"The hardest part in this whole thing is figuring this whole thing out," White said. "Believe it or not, I actually have a plan for the whole thing."
Source: http://mmajunkie.com/news/18860/global- ... he-wec.mma