Dana White expects first UFC card in Russia this year
The UFC is seemingly picking up a ton of lost momentum as the last several cards have all delivered solid nights of action for the fans. Speaking last Saturday after UFC on Fox ended successfully, Dana White detailed some new plans for the expansion of his promotion, courtesy of MMA Junkie:
“I would say this year (we’ll go to Russia).”
“I think what’s going to go on in Russia is we’ll put on a live event there first (before an ‘Ultimate Fighter’ season). We’ll do a live event in Russia, and just like every other event we’ve done, you do the live event and it explodes.”
With The Ultimate Fighter expanding to Brazil and then the Gold Coast (featuring Britain vs. Australia), the UFC is truly becoming a sport with worldwide appeal. A card set in Russia is no doubt one of the next logical steps for the rapidly expanding company.
This statement by White comes on the heels of his recent revealing that he nearly got Brock Lesnar to face off against the legendary Russian Fedor Emelianenko at Cowboys Stadium last year. While that bout fell through, MMA is popular in Russia and could blow up quickly with the right reception for the UFC. White continued:
“Mixed martial arts is already big over there. Sambo is big over there. (We’ll do a live event) and then we’ll see where the market goes from there.”
Some good news for UFC fans outside of the U.S. and Brazil. Just how global of a phenomenon will the UFC continue to become?
