• View topic - With Australia now "infected," maybe OZ TUF in works

With Australia now "infected," UFC considering Melbourne event, "TUF" expansion

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Earlier this week Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White said Australia will become an annual host site for the promotion.

And following's Saturday's successful UFC 110 event and Australian debut, which drew a promotional non-U.S. record crowd of 17,831 attendees to Sydney's Acer Arena, White said the roots are now in place for continental dominance.

With fans now promoting the UFC as much (if not more) than the promotion can do on its own, White expects not only a future event in Melbourne but a possible Australian version of "The Ultimate Fighter" reality series.

White said the key was making a debut; the fans and the product will now do the rest.

"That's our philosophy everywhere we go, and that's really how we got this think kickstarted in the U.S., too," White said. "We believe that when you move into a new territory or country, and when you expose everybody to it, they'll get into it. We believe in the product that much.

"We also believe that when you bring a live event, the 20,000 people that were here tonight will leave and they'll infect another 30 or 40 people (each) with what they saw. And it's been proven in all the different places that we've gone, so that was our strategy here, too."

White's seen the strategy work in various new U.S. locales, including Ohio and Tennessee, and international markets such as Canada and parts of the U.K.

But while other markets have required a learning curve to understand and appreciate some of the intricacies of the sport, especially the ground game, White was pleased with what he saw at Acer Arena.

"The thing that means the most to me is how educated the crowd is here," he said. "These guys were loud and energetic and excited, but a very educated crowd here in Australia. That goes to show us where the market really is."

That's why the UFC wants to return in 2011 to Melbourne, the second-largest Australian city (3.9 million residents) behind only Sydney, and why the UFC is considering Australia for one of its upcoming international editions of "TUF," which has produced 10 successful seasons in the U.S. while on Spike TV.

"We're working on taking it international," White said of the "TUF" series. "We're working on that right now. We've got a couple countries nailed down that we're definitely going to do.

"Australia is definitely one we're interested in doing."

Meanwhile, the commitment to Australia is a bonus for Australian fighters such as George Sotiropoulos, who picked up the biggest win of his career with a unanimous-decision victory over Joe Stevenson on the UFC 110 main card.

"I haven't received that sort of reception in any of my fights.," he said. "I've always had a good reception when I fought but nothing compared to what I got [at the weigh-ins] and tonight (at UFC 110). It's the best feeling in the world."

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