The UFC is still on course to finally put a ribbon on its plans to showcase events on the premium cable television network HBO, according to comments attributed to UFC President Dana White in a a recent TVWeek.com article.
Here's the snip:
"It will happen. What we're doing is going to get guys started on 'The Ultimate Fighter,' where they can then progress to a show like 'UFC Fight Night' before landing on HBO. HBO would then give them the opportunity for a title shot on PPV."
This has been an ongoing issue, which hit a major snag a few months ago when former HBO CEO — and champion of the partnership — Chris Albrecht was arrested for assault and released from his position as a result. To check out the back-and-forth developments regarding this drawn-out situation click here for more background.
With a deal seemingly imminent (again), it's interesting to hear from White how HBO fits into the mix. Essentially, we can expect bigger names and more high profile match ups as fighters move up the ladder from Spike, HBO and ultimately to the pay-per-view (PPV) broadcasts.
The "big picture" idea is to take the sport of mixed martial arts and the promotion "global" and into new parts of the world such as the massive Hispanic market, as well as Australia, Japan, Korea, Canada and other points across the globe.
And to do that the UFC will also rely on its syndicated broadcast series from Trifecta Entertainment called, "UFC Wired," which is set debut next month.
According to the report, "UFC Wired" will be hosted by none other than Joe Rogan an feature "the best bouts from the history of the UFC as a measure to introduce the sport and its fighters to the mainstream public."
"UFC Wired" is currently cleared in more than 85 percent of the country, with many major-market stations carrying it in early access or primetime.
Another snip from White:
"Our strategy right now is global. We're at a place in the U.S. where it's going to keep getting bigger and bigger as our fan base grows. I think that will especially be true once our syndicated series launches. But we are now in 150 countries with a powerful product that everyone understands. What we want to do now is take our events to these markets and create the first global pay-per-view with people from all over the world buying the fight."
Cha-ching.
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