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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
"I still don't consider us mainstream. We've been on Fox for a year, holding our numbers. We're in 175 countries. We just went into China for the first time. The fight that we did [last November] in Macao was the biggest fight they've ever had in China. We're bigger than the NFL globally, but nothing's bigger than the NFL in this country.
Ultimate Fighter is a very important television show for [UFC]. There's a lot of misconceptions about the sport and the people who compete in it. When we bought the company one of our big challenges was we wanted to get this thing on free television. When we bought the company, it wasn't even allowed on Pay Per View. I would definitely like to be as big as the NFL someday."
-Dana White talks to reporters at the Television Critics Association press tour about the UFC's current status in the sports landscape, and where they'd like to get (via The Hollywood Reporter).
Penick's Analysis: The UFC still hasn't taken a hold of the U.S. market in the way they'd like, but there's no denying the global success they've experienced in the last several years. The numbers they've scored in Brazil alone have been fantastic, and they're continuing to expand to country after country with more and more television deals. So while they don't come close to the top sports in the U.S. currently, they're still doing very well worldwide.
[Dana White art by Travis Beaven (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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