Lorenzo Fertitta talks TUF: India, global expansion
Posted on September 14, 2012, 08:06 AM by Anton GurevichUltimate Fighting Championship owner, Lorenzo Fertitta, spoke about his promotion's expansion to India with the upcoming TUF: India. Fertitta discussed UFC's ambitions and goals in what could be easily regarded as one of the biggest markets on the planet.
Here's part of the official press release:
At a press conference held today in Mumbai, the Ultimate Fighting Championship® and the SONY SIX® channel have confirmed a wide-ranging, strategic partnership which brings the fastest growing sports organization in history to India.
SIX is the destination for all UFC programming in India, from live events featuring the biggest names in the sport to athlete profile shows including the seminal Countdown and Primetime. SIX will also feature the greatest fights in the UFC’s 19-year history with UFC Unleashed.
UFC Chairman and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta said: “We are very excited to partner with SIX as the UFC expands into India. We look forward to working with them to not only further expand the UFC’s fanbase here, but also to find and develop local talent and, ultimately, bring regular live events to India.”
Mr. Man Jit Singh, CEO Multi Screen Media, the parent company of SIX, said “We are delighted to bring the UFC - the fastest growing sports organization in the world - to India. India has a lot of appetite for new sports and we are confident that SIX will skew younger audiences with the special programming of the Ultimate fighting Championship on the channel.”
A cornerstone of the new partnership will be the production of an all-Indian edition of the Ultimate Fighter, the UFC’s long-running reality TV show where 16 of the most talented unsigned martial artists compete for a contract with the UFC. Previous TUF winners have gone on to win UFC world champions and become international superstars.
TUF India will be the third edition of the long-running sports reality show to take place outside the US; with TUF Brazil being a huge success earlier this year and TUF: the Smashes (Australia vs UK) to begin airing in Australia later this month.
TUF India is scheduled for broadcast in 2013 and casting details will be announced soon. Fertitta said SIX’s commitment to the series was crucial for the UFC in the market.
Comments
First card in India will be big name fighters and local talent in an sold out venue!!! Then everybody is gonna pull out due to injury and they're gonna give us a bullshit main event fight that makes absolutly no sense, and Dana is gonna talk shit about jones to feel better about himself.
The UFC does make sure that they put some entertaining fights on which is down to joe silva and he is fantastic at it. BUT when Dana says he puts the fans first, its BS, after the move to fox and all title fights seem to be in vegas or same time zone!
lorenzo has always been cool and composed unlike dana
God damn Lorenzo is looking like a boss! My bets is he would weigh in for the HW division... guy is a tank.
As much as I like Dana it is always cool to hear Lorenzo's thoughts and plans for the UFC, he puts it in such a positive and exciting way!
The Guy is jacked on hgh!
I love how Lorenzo is talking global expansion in this post and Dana is talking shit about one of their biggest money makers in the post directly above.