Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2009 5:55 am
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If you think the Ultimate Fighting Championship's new Canadian office, continued U.S. expansion, and penetration of new international markets may prompt the organization to give up on somewhat-hostile host sites such as Germany, think again.
The UFC ventured to Cologne for UFC 99 in June 2009, and UFC officials again found themselves fighting off the same misconceptions that plagued mixed martial arts in the 1990s.
But UFC president Dana White said all the bad publicity, public backlash, city council's attempted shutdown of UFC 99, and an eventual ban on minors attending the event won't force the promotion to back down.
"We don't curl up and climb into the closet when things don't go good," White recently said. "We're going to come out guns blazing. We're going to keep going. Again, our job is to build the sport, and we're not going to stop."
The concept of "building" the sport in Germany has faced challenges at every corner. The country's largest newspapers condemned MMA while using incorrect information about the promotion's rules set. They also quoted local boxing promoters who simply ignored the facts – the UFC has never seen a death or serious injury, and such occurrences are extremely rare in MMA – by complaining about brutality and supposed past tragedies as UFC 99 neared.
And the UFC's crucial TV deal with DSF – one that was laying the groundwork for a local fan base – ended after just one of a scheduled three years when the Bavarian state office for new media pulled the plug earlier this year.
Despite the setbacks and opposition, White says the company remains undeterred. The country is home to fighters and fight fans, and he won't let a few critics ruin it for the rest.
"Not getting TV isn't going to stop us," White said. "We're going to keep going. We can't get into Ontario, and we're opening an office there. So it doesn't bother us."
And White, who said a second show in Germany isn't out of the question, boasts that such a stance should be a lesson to other potential host sites who try to stop the UFC by using misinformation.
"One thing we don't do is back down," he said. Source: www.mmajunkie.com
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