RIO DE JANEIRO — Nearly three years after its most recent trip to the country for a pay-per-view show, the UFC finally returns to Brazil on Jan. 21 for UFC 283 in Rio de Janeiro, and the company has their hopes high with so many changes on the horizon.
The UFC’s 20-year partnership with Brazilian media giant Globo ended at the end of 2022, with Band TV stepping in as the new broadcast partner to air 12 live events per year on its free-to-air channel, as well as help promote the launch of UFC Fight Pass in the country.
UFC executives David Shaw and MMA Fighting revealed that three UFC cards are in the works for Brazil in 2023,, with details and locations still to be confirmed.
“It was a huge priority for us to get back on free-to-air,” Shaw said. We know how passionate, dedicated, rich and deep the Brazilian fanbase is. We know that we have fans all over Brazil, from Manaus to Belem to Porto Alegre to Curitiba. It was crucial for us to have our sport and live events available on free-to-air [channel] across the country.
“We understand how streaming services work. We want to make sure that we’ve got a marketing platform, a promotional platform that can speak every month, every week, every day about UFC and help promote the destination for the official home for all of the live and library UFC content that exists in Brazil.”
Shaw said Globo and UFC had “a really productive, profitable, very harmonious and really beneficial relationship” and expect to continue being partners “for many years to come.” But, he said, Band TV “stepped up and really wanted to partner with us on this venture.”
“It makes a lot of sense given their investment in F1 and other sports and how proficient they’ve become at promoting live sports in this country,” Shaw said of Band TV. “It’s a hugely encouraging thing for us. We’re really looking forward to Jan. 21. We are looking forward to this year .”
. It will be one of our most significant years in the country.
UFC 283 marks the company’s 37th event in Brazil since 2011 and Shaw sees the card as being as important as the UFC’s debut show in Rio de Janeiro, 2011’s UFC 134. That event aired live on free-to-air RedeTV, a much smaller network when compared to Globo and even Band TV, yet it was a gigantic success. UFC 134 had local stars Anderson Silva and MauricioRua in action. However, the promotion anticipates similar success with Brazilians Glover Teixeira (and Deiveson Figueiredo) both appearing at UFC 283..
Brazil doesn’t have as many UFC champions as it had in 2011, however 33 of the nearly 100 Brazilians currently under contract are ranked in the top 15 of their respective weight classes, with Amanda Nunes and Figueiredo sitting atop their respective divisions.
“We can’t name a country around the world that’s got mixed martial arts as ingrained into the culture,” Shaw said. “As you know, we talked about it being such a part of the social fabric in this country. We need to make sure we are present at the right times. If we’re in bars, if we’re on hotels, if the fight is on satellite TV, on cable — we want to be everywhere. This is a crucial part of the UFC Fight Pass Brazil business plan. People need to be able to find UFC Fight Pass Brazil. People need to know where to find UFC.
“The UFC Fight Pass Brazil product is going to be the single most important content decision that we’ve made in Brazil, because now we house everything. Fight Pass costs nothing, and you receive everything .”
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UFC Fight Pass Brazil is set to air every single UFC event for R$ 24,90 a month (approx. $4. 60), as well as LFA, Shooto Brazil, Cage Warriors, Polaris, and more. On top of that, fans get a 50 percent discount signing up for the entire year if they do it on the first two weeks of 2023.
Asked how many subscribers the UFC expect to draw to UFC Fight Pass Brazil ahead of UFC 283, Shaw joked they’re aiming at “a good chunk” of the 220 million people who currently live in Brazil.
Source: https://www.mmafighting.com/2023/1/1/23451837/ufc-283-kick-off-one-most-important-years-brazil-mma?rand=96749
