Lefko on UFC in Brazil: Steady build
Posted January 11, 2012 2:20 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It is interesting how the Ultimate Fighting Championship is being marketed in Brazil compared to what it did in Canada, in particular Toronto.
On Saturday, the UFC will stage its second show in the South American country, leading up to what is planned to be another show in the summer, which quite likely will be the biggest in the company’s history. If everything goes according to script, it will be held outdoors in a 100,000-seat stadium, which will easily eclipse the current record of 55,724 set in Toronto at UFC 129, April 30, 2011 at the Rogers Centre.
The Toronto event did not include an approach like the first one in Brazil, only five months ago at HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, the same city and venue for this Saturday’s UFC 142 card. The organization had already cracked the Canadian market with stops in Montreal and Vancouver, so Toronto was the equivalent of “go big or go home.”
It represented so much more in terms of anticipation and marketability. The appetite was there, it was just a matter of the UFC feeding the beast. Had UFC president Dana White chosen to stage the show at the Air Canada Centre, which had only about a third of the capacity of the Rogers Centre, it easily could have done well, but this had to be something unlike anything the company had ever done.
White put on the show to end all shows, and it went off to perfection. While he said afterward he’d like to come back the following week, he had to know that after the first experience Torontonians would likely be a little less fascinated. The price points had been outrageous because the market allowed for it, but the second time around wouldn’t or couldn’t be as costly.
Minus all the hype and everything that accompanied the first UFC show in Toronto — the fan experience, the parties, the great Canadian Georges St-Pierre — the return at UFC 140 in December (this time at the ACC) lacked the same punch, so to speak. Tickets could be had without paying ridiculous amounts to scalpers.
In fact, the venue did not sell out, although it could be said the second show was better strictly in terms of the combatants. The three principal fights featured current stars or legends whose best days may have been behind them but still carried name value.
For the first Toronto show, Canadian Mark Hominick fought in the co-main event, taking on champion Jose Aldo for the featherweight belt. Hominick was in the right place at the right time because of his record, but more so because of nationality. Let’s face it, a promising Canadian fighting in the first-ever show in Toronto fit perfectly, and it was followed by GSP putting his welterweight title on the line.
The whole show dripped of Canadian drama, including various other fights of note to the Toronto and area audience. That really wasn’t a factor the second time around: it was more about Americans facing Brazilians, and for aficionados that was just fine. Yes, there was some Canadian content, but nothing that could compare to the final three fights in terms of star value and quality.
Nationality and patriotism will come into play for this Saturday’s show in Rio. It is heavy on Brazilian content, with at least one countryman in each of the 10 fights and, in some cases, two. On the surface, it simply doesn’t have the same marketability outside of Brazil, so it will be interesting to see what the numbers will be like in the pay-per-view audience.
Not every show can be jam-packed with storylines — certainly this show will pale in comparison to UFC 141, which didn’t have any championships on the line but had two heavyweights of note going head-to-head in the main event, and a co-main event that had great heat between two fighters who clearly didn’t like one another. UFC 142 seems like it’s downright friendly by comparison. To this point, there has been very little trash-talking or disrespect. Frankly, it is too nice.
Maybe that will change for the summer card. Junior Dos Santos, putting his heavyweight belt on the line against transplanted Englishman Alistair Overeem, has the potential to be one of the biggest and best fights in recent history. And then there’s the potential Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen rematch.
White should achieve his goal of selling out the 100,000-seat stadium and recording huge PPV numbers. By the time that show comes along, Brazilians will have had enough small tastes to be ready for the big helping.
While MMA is not likely to one day overtake soccer as the top sport in Brazil — something Vitor Belfort predicted last week as he looked forward to his fight against American Anthony Johnson — it has grown. Come the summer, when the buildup leads to the historic UFC show in the grandest arena of all, Brazilians will be focused on something they haven’t seen before and quite likely never will again.
