At a press conference in Las Vegas earlier this month the UFC unveiled their 2015 fight calendar in full, at least in terms of the dates of each of the 45 shows they have planned, though the destinations were still under wraps.
However, the Las Vegas Journal Review now claims that the promotion plans to hold more than half of their events – 23 to be exact – outwith the United States.
That’s only one more than last year, but considering they only held 10 internationally in 2013 it shows how aggressive their global expansion has become in a relatively short space of time.
A potentially lucrative new market in Russia is one of their priorities for the coming year, while other countries set to get a taste of UFC action for the first time include Scotland, South Korea and a South American country with Costa Rica or Panama believed to be the current favorites.
Needless to say Brazil will again be a major focus for the UFC in 2015, while other regions that have a TV deals secured such as Mexico and Latin America will also get their fair share of Octagon action.
There’s also set to be new editions of The Ultimate Fighter franchise in Japan and The Middle East, while the UFC gym business is set to expand in the likes of London, Dubai, Brazil and Germany along with a flurry of new ones in the U.S.
With the UFC’s uniform deal with Reebok kicking off in July they’ll also be expanding their reach internationally in the retail sector with over 10,000 stores worldwide set to feature the promotions upcoming clothing range.
Finally, the sponsorship deal is set to financially benefit fighters, but also charity as 3% of the revenue from the Reebok deal will go to a special ‘Fight For Peace’ program operating out of London and Rio which will help troubled kids while also teaching them martial arts.