All the World's a Cage

Ultimate Fighting Championship Wants to Make Its Octagonal Ring A Global Platform. It's Off to a Good Start, but More Markets Await.

Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White insists his sport will become bigger than the Super Bowl and the World Cup in eight years. And he's serious.

The UFC, which has helped legitimize mixed martial arts fighting in the United States, now is thinking globally. White wants to expand the reach of UFC events -- in which two fighters face off in a caged, octagon-shaped ring -- overseas and on global pay-per-view television.

"In this country, nothing is bigger than the NFL. . . . They don't give a [expletive] about football in Europe. It's like saying cricket's gonna be big over here. Never going to happen," White said. "When two guys are in the octagon, that transcends cultural barriers, language barriers. It's fighting. Fighting is in our DNA as humans. We get it and like it."

Lorenzo Fertitta, co-founder and co-owner of UFC's parent company, Zuffa, and whose net worth from the casino industry has been estimated at $1.3 billion by Forbes, is overseeing the global expansion.

UFC already has a strong presence in Britain and Canada. Over the past four years, UFC has reached deals to broadcast fights in 170 countries and territories, reaching a potential 300 million homes, Fertitta said. The next step includes capitalizing on the broadcasts and bringing live events, merchandise, DVDs and compatible Web sites to international markets.

Germany, Sweden, Spain, Brazil, the Philippines, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, South Korea and Malaysia will be among UFC's primary targets.

Despite White and Fertitta's confidence, questions remain about how realistic it might be for the UFC to gain mass appeal internationally. The league still needs to continue to expand in the United States, where it is not yet on network television.

"You have to start to question, did they put the cart before the horse?" said Adam Swift, editor of MMAPayout.com, a mixed martial arts business Web site. "There's still a lot of work to do in North America. You want to shore up the United States before you go internationally. Will they have so many irons in the fire that the core business begins to suffer?"

White said he's had discussions with major television networks, although his lofty demands have hindered those opportunities. Before White accepts a deal, he said, networks must meet an undisclosed price and cede full production control.

One of UFC's competitors, Elite XC, was broadcast on CBS in May.

"We literally could have been on three to four places if I wanted to be stupid," White said.

UFC events currently are shown on the cable network Spike. It also has a strong presence on pay-per-view. In the 18-34 male demographic -- coveted by advertisers -- September's UFC 75 event beat three "Monday Night Football" games shown on ESPN in 2007, according to the Nielsen television ratings. Pay-per-view events also are streamed online at Yahoo.com.