No MMA in olympics..No probs UFC international tourney??

jnrpepaseed · **Joined:** Fri Oct 02, 2009 10:49 am **Posts:** 545

For years, many mixed martial arts fans have wondered aloud why their favorite sport isn't a part of the Olympic Games.

After all, with boxing, judo, wrestling and tae kwon do already slated as modern Olympic events, what's the problem with adding the arts together?

That's an argument for another time and place. UFC president Dana White has far more pressing concerns on his mind. And besides, he envisions an international tournament staged far more frequently than every Olympiad.

"What we're starting to do now is we're working on ways to get 'The Ultimate Fighter' in other countries," White said. "We're going to start getting 'The Ultimate Fighter' in each of these different countries and try to figure out how when we do the finales, the finale would be all the countries come together and everybody fights."

White has long discussed the plan for international versions of the long-running Spike TV series "The Ultimate Fighter." Canada and the Middle East have been tagged as frontrunners, though the UFC's recent expansion into China has also opened up another potential market.

White said he envisions a system in which the multiple versions of the show can run simultaneously and culminate in a massive international finale. And while there was some initial concern that fans would fans it difficult to track the results of the international versions of "The Ultimate Fighter," White said as the promotion expands, company officials are actively seeking out ways to broadcast the fights around the globe.

"Technology is our friend," White said. "There's more ways to watch this stuff. People will be able to watch the 'The Ultimate Fighter' from other countries online or however. That's our long-term goal and what we're working on and trying to figure out how to do it."

White has admitted in the past that as the company visits foreign lands, the prized recruits will likely be found in the sport's smaller divisions. As such, he sees WEC-focused versions of "The Ultimate Fighter" on the horizon, and he still sees the flyweight division as part of the sister promotion's future.

"As we continue to do more fights and continue to travel around, we need more weight divisions," White said. "So we're going to be adding weight divisions and getting those lighter weights in there."

With the UFC already operating at a breakneck speed, it's hard to imagine the promotion's activities multiplied exponentially on a global scale, but White seems to think it's possible.

And while some fans are concerned the quality of the sport may be diluted over time, White has no such fears.

"It's scary how many fights (we're going to do)," White said. We just did four fights last month. As this thing continues to open up to different places, and as long as we can keep putting on great cards, we're just going to keep popping out fights left and right.

"People always ask, 'Are you over-saturating?' Are there too many football games on? Are there too many baseball games on? As long as we're putting on great fights, we're going to keep doing it.

No MMA in olympics..No probs UFC international tourney??

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