UFC has its eyes set on Asia!
Mark Fisher
During the UFC 118 post press conference Dana White made the announcement that the focus for next year is to market UFC in Asia, taking it from being available in 500.000.000 homes right now to the double, 1.000.000.000 (a billion) homes.
For this purpose Zuffa has hired the former NBA Asia manager, Mark Fisher, as the new vice director and manager of the UFC Asia office.
Fisher says regarding Asia that "Its a fantastic market, and we are just scratching the surface..."
When asked why he wanted to work for UFC he mentions that UFC's "Striving for excellence and quality" ... "its what attracted me" also comparing UFC to NBA.
His opinion is that the asian countries with the biggest opportunity for UFC are more then just China and Japan.
He says that "Japan, Korea, China, Southeast Asia, Taiwan, Hong Kong"... are all countries that already have a lot of MMA activity and will be very interesting for UFC.
We still have to see how the Asian fans will welcome UFC and how many will be prepared to pay 49.95 to watch a PPV, but one thing is for sure, UFC is going to grow, a lot, and we are all lucky enough to be able to enjoy it.
History is being made in front of our eyes and UFC going to Asia is just the beginning, at least if you believe Dana White. And its hard not to when you look back at how Zuffa and UFC have grown during the last 9 years.