UFC plans to invade Manila
Wed, October 01 2008
No less than UFC chairman and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta made a short visit to the country via his own jet plane and liked what he saw, local media reported.
Barring any hitches, the UFC and its local partner, ABS-CBN’s Balls Channel, will co-organize the first UFC event in Southeast Asia in May of next year.
“I personally saw how passionate Filipino fans are about mixed martial arts. We’re 100 per cent committed to the [Filipino] market. We’d love the UFC to come here and put up a big show. We’ll be here for sure,” said Fertitta, who graced yesterday’s media conference at the ABS-CBN Building in Quezon City.
What firmed up Fertitta’s commitment was the rousing accommodation given by Filipino fans to two-time UFC champion Chuck Liddell, who held an exhibition and signed autographs at the Mall of Asia.
During the fans’ day at the mall, Liddel was given a red-carpet entrance as he entered the makeshift stage where he showed some of his stand-up skills and praised take-down defense.
“I was surprised by the reception which the Filipino fans gave me. It was a great turnout and a great experience,” said Liddel, a stand-up artist known for his explosive fists. Among Liddel’s victims were the legendary Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz and Vanderlei Silva.
“We want to bring UFC around the world. Aside from its headquarters in Las Vegas and Canada, UFC now has an office in London for its Europe operations. We’re going to Southeast Asia and we want to have the Philippines as the springboard,” Fertitta added.
For the Manila event, Fertitta promised to bring in some of the biggest names in UFC, including Liddel and half-Filipino fighter Brandon Vera.
“We’ll have some of our stars and the best fighters from all over the world, it’s going to be an international fight because UFC is beamed to 70 countries,” said Fertitta.
