UFC to launch Asia push with fight in Singapore this June

SINGAPORE — Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the world’s leading mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion, is not only making a return to Singapore this June after a three-year absence, it will also be using the Republic as its launchpad to make inroads into the Asian market.

Joe Carr, UFC’s senior vice-president, head of international and content, confirmed a UFC event at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on June 17. He promised an “exciting fight card”, but did not provide more details. “I am hopeful we will have some names (confirmed) in probably the next four to six weeks,” he said at a media event.

The UFC’s stable of superstars includes Conor McGregor, Ronda Rousey and Holly Holm, and Carr told TODAY that it is important some star power is present for a stellar return to the Republic.

“We are balancing 42 events a year, but I think the expectations here, being our first event in Asia in a while … are (to bring in) the top of the card, (and) we will feature some of our bigger international names (alongside Asian talent),” he said.

UFC’s last event here was a welterweight fight at Marina Bay Sands in January 2014. UFC plans to stage five events this year in the Asia-Pacific region, including Singapore, Australia and Japan.

UFC, which established its regional headquarters here in 2013, cancelled its sole event in Asia last October after injury forced Hall of Famer B.J. Penn to withdraw from the UFC Fight Night Manila. They staged three events in 2015 (Manila, Saitama, Seoul) and five in 2014 (Singapore, Abu Dhabi, Saitama, twice in Macau). 

Carr described Singapore as the “perfect market” to restart Asian efforts, particularly in South-east Asia where Singapore-based ONE Championship is number one.

He said 93 million, or 35 per cent of UFC fans hail from the Asia-Pacific, and that one million of the 1.5 million MMA fans here are UFC fans. International Media Group (IMG), which formed a merger with William Morris Endeavor (WME) to acquire UFC last July for a record US$4 billion (S$5.5 billion), also has its Asian headquarters here.

“Singapore really is a regional hub, for South-east Asia in particular … we thought it was the right time to come back (to South-east Asia) and we think the MMA market, our sport and our business are mature enough to be successful,” Carr said.

Jean Ng, director for sports at Singapore Tourism Board, is hopeful of long-term sustainable partnerships and “yearly fights” with “our MMA properties in Singapore”.

Carr also defended the perception that UFC has struggled to gain a foothold in Asia. “We feel we’ve been particularly successful from a revenue and profitability perspective … (though) I will admit we’ve been a little inconsistent in our event calendar,” he said.

He also praised ONE Championship for being “very successful in developing talent”, but believes UFC is the “pinnacle”. “I’m happy that they are growing the sport at the grassroots level in this region and bringing more awareness,” he said. 

“Ultimately, what happens is (that) talent gravitates to UFC, and fans realise that if they want to see the best fights, competitions and the best product, they’ll obviously find UFC.”