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UFC will not have Wanderlei Silva & Chael Sonnen as TUF 13 coaches

By Zach Arnold | December 15, 2010

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Which is a smart move. As much leverage as they have over the relatively politically weak Keith Kizer, it would have been a bad move to have Sonnen on TUF so soon after what happened in California during his appeals hearing. It would have sent a horrible message for the company’s credibility to ‘reward’ him so soon after everything that has gone down.

Besides, there are bigger fish to fry. Like running in Brazil on 8/27 at HSBC Arena and opening up the floodgates for a natural marketplace for their product. This is big news on a lot of levels. Historically, UFC is now pulling off what PRIDE always said they would do but never actually did, which is run a major MMA show in the country with a rich Brazilian roster of talent. PRIDE had Brazilian Top Team and Chute Boxe in their corner and didn’t pull it off. So, for UFC to make the move now is big.

Dana White is promising that all the major Brazilian names will be on the HSBC Arena card including Anderson Silva. In hindsight, he’s in a no-lose situation regarding the outcome of Silva/Belfort given that the champion will probably defend the title in Brazil. And imagine Mr. Silva against the aforementioned Mr. Sonnen.

On a selfish level, I am fascinated to see how this development plays out in the Brazilian fight media. Who will be pro-UFC, anti-UFC, etc. Will it turn out in similar fashion to the current political climate for writers in the States?

What are some of the fights you would book for the Brazil show that would draw the most interest from the local fans?

Topics: Brazil, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 21 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

21 Responses to “UFC will not have Wanderlei Silva & Chael Sonnen as TUF 13 coaches”

  1. The Gaijin says:

    Glad to see the UFC making a move into Brazil…I have been saying they should be moving into Brazil for ages, but it appears the timing is now right. Among some of the positive factors working for the UFC and expansion into the Brazilian market:
    – emerging market economy w/ a strong future outlook (the growth of the middle-class is a bit of an issue);
    – recognition from Olympics/World Cup with the ensuing infrastructural development, cash infusion, private investments, etc. (this is not going to be an immediate benefit for them to run shows in the next 6 months, but they’re establishing a foothold before someone else establishes any momentum);
    – mature audience in terms of recognition of the sport – e.g. unlike Europe they don’t need to spend ANY time educating fans on high-level mixed martial arts;
    – name recognition of the UFC from past shows;
    – a large amount of fan recognition and equity accumulated in a number of well known and accomplished fighters that are under the UFC banner as fighters or ambassadors, including current champions in hand.

    They just need to keep Chael Sonnen out of the building to prevent a Renzo-style riot from happening!

    At this point I doubt their consumer economy is strong enough to do anything more than a couple of shows over the next few years (at least at “UFC prices”), but this a big step that I think will play out well for them by the middle/end of the decade.

    • 45 Huddle says:

      That Renzo riot was no joke. Those Brazilians are crazy.

      • Steve4192 says:

        In all fairness, the Pentagon Combat riot was a unique set of circumstances.

        1. It was BJJ versus Luta Livre, and attracted a VERY partisan crowd from both sides.

        2. The fans were literally up against the fence and were grabbing at the fighters.

        3. Renzo attacked a fan to set off the riot.

        None of that is likely to ever be replicated in the UFC.

    • Coyote says:

      If you think Brazil is going up, you dont know nothing.
      Fabelas problem is just getting worse. The World Cup/Olimpyan games on Brazil is, really, just a joke over the real situation in the country.

      They had even worst security problems with the drug war than Mexico. And the media and the goverment hides that, very deep.

      And like Huddle 45 says, wait for a massive riot of people on the UFC show.

      • edub says:

        I gotta admit there a lot of the stuff you speak of has been shown on the news. Especially with the drug war. I just didn’t know it was as bad as it is.

        Do you live in Brazil?

        • Coyote says:

          Im reporter and i live on México.

          And i know the problem of insecurity around the world very, very well. Mexico have the red lights for been close to U.S.A., the situation on Brazil, is just worst.

          And just to know:

          Q.- Is not weird that the Gracies can’t make a big show on Brazil, the land of the future mma star’s?
          A.- Big Mafia deals and control.

        • edub says:

          I appreciate the info man.

  2. 45 Huddle says:

    They should do either Wanderlei/Sonnen or Wanderlei/Leben sooner then later.

    I hate to see title belts held up for TUF, but this is one of the few times it really makes sense to do so. Faber vs. BW Champ on TUF needs to happen to get the casual fans familiar with the smaller weight divisions.

    As for Brazil…. It is a perfect fit for the UFC. They have so many Brazilian top tier fighters that doing a big show there once a year would be a huge success.

    All they need to do is 1 to 2 big shows per year in some of these markters to keep their options open. United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, and a few other countries are key.

  3. David M says:

    Chael vs Vitor/Anderson in Brazil would be amazing.

    The loser of Vitor/Anderson should also fight, as should Wanderlei, and Junior should defend his title after he K Cain TFO. I like the idea of the event being on the verge of a riot, adds more drama to the telecast. I selfishly want to see Nick Diaz on this show against a Brazilian, even though I fear it is unlikely.

    • Steve4192 says:

      With all the shit Chael talks about Brazil, he’d probably get stabbed during his walkout.

      Sonnen + Brazil is just a BAD idea.

  4. Fluyid says:

    Anonymous blog poster Fluyid states that this is a huge move for the UFC and predicts that it will reap bigger and better results than their moves elsewhere, thereby bolstering their overall international expansion efforts.

    • Steve4192 says:

      The biggest thing Brazil has going for it is that it shares time zones with much of the United States. Unlike the European shows, they can run Brazil-based events live on PPV back in the home market.

      • 45 Huddle says:

        That makes the Canada, Mexico, and Brazil all much more attractive. Also Australia because they can just run a noon time show there and have it live here at night.

        Europe is the hardest to pull off.

        • cutch says:

          They could do a live UK show that was on US timezones or there about, HBO has had a few of the bigger British fights held at 3am (well the main event starts at that time) over in the UK. They could start the main card at 1am and look for a 4am finish, which is just the same as going to a club anyway.

  5. edub says:

    One fight, and really one fight only comes to my mind for their first show back in Brazil. It pretty much depends on Anderson winning in January. It’s a rematch.

    Wanderlei vs. Vitor 2

  6. chris says:

    Its a great time for the ufc to start running brazil. The country has hosted many international events in recent years such as soccer tourneys and in the future they have the olympics and also a world cup coming no? Also with the countries work to modernize it’s infrastructure over the past d

  7. chris says:

    Sorry about that,
    In the past decade, the country has seen the middle class grow and it fits the bill for the type of local the ufc looks for in new markets it seems, plus you have all the crazy brazillians to fight on the show too.
    However, instead of doing ALL brazil v. Brazil fights, i would expect 1 or 2 fights like that, but rather run it like your other international events. Add a few europeans, then add 2 or 3 american fighters and mix it up.
    There would be enough local interests with a mere key 3 or 4 national favs being on the show, so the ufc shouldnt have to sacrifice the quality of other shows in that time frame, giving us another indianapolis type weak event following the brazil event.

    Id also keep chael out of brazil for the event, knowing how quickly the riot back in the day got out of hands, theres no reason to not just sit back and play it smart and safe without chael needing b.o.p.e. security 24/7.

  8. Coyote says:

    Wanderlei, Aldo, and maybe one of the Nog’s. Doent’s have to be the “BIG” event. Just for be the return of UFC to Brazil is already sold for high class people.

    Is just sad, beacuse the real fighters came from the favelas and the outsides.

    “Rio Heroes” 4 life.

  9. Steve4192 says:

    “mature audience in terms of recognition of the sport – e.g. unlike Europe they don’t need to spend ANY time educating fans on high-level mixed martial arts”

    I strongly disagree with this.

    Everything I have read says that vale tudo has an awful reputation in Brazil. It is considered a sport of violent thugs and criminals. That is why Zuffa went to such lengths today to differentiate MMA from it’s vale tudo roots.

    Did you hear some of the questions from the press? Vitor was talking about how MMA is sport and how he trains like any other sportsman and one of the reporters followed up with a question about whether he would use his fighting skills on someone in the event of a fender-bender (which he answered quite cleverly). Royce fielded a few questions like that as well.

    It is going to take a lot of work to distance themselves from the awful reputation of vale tudo.

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