'The Ultimate Fighter: India' official for 2013 debut
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'The Ultimate Fighter: India' official for 2013 debut
infestructure
9/11/12 8:07:10PM
UFC officials today announced that the promotion has partnered with India's SONY SIX to produce "The Ultimate Fighter: India," which will air on the channel in 2013.
"We are very excited to partner with SIX as the UFC expands into India," UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta stated. "We look forward to working with them to not only further expand the UFC's fanbase [in India] but also to find and develop local talent and, ultimately, bring regular live events to India."
~I'm not sure if we have anyone with Indian heritage on here, but this means more MMA
"We are very excited to partner with SIX as the UFC expands into India," UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta stated. "We look forward to working with them to not only further expand the UFC's fanbase [in India] but also to find and develop local talent and, ultimately, bring regular live events to India."
~I'm not sure if we have anyone with Indian heritage on here, but this means more MMA
Manak
9/11/12 9:18:05PM
fuck yea, my heritage is indian... my ass needs to get to india
jae_1833
9/11/12 9:51:51PM
Interaested to see what styles come out of that region, it's truley an untapped market....get it...."UNTAPPED"!
Aether
9/11/12 10:03:50PM
Strange. Of all of the countries to get a TUF, India is not one that I would've expected to be at the top of the list. Don't really know anything about India's fighting scene, I would guess there's going to be a lot of kickboxers though.
LuckyCharms
9/11/12 11:04:31PM
Posted by Aether
Strange. Of all of the countries to get a TUF, India is not one that I would've expected to be at the top of the list. Don't really know anything about India's fighting scene, I would guess there's going to be a lot of kickboxers though.
I was surprise too, but I think UFC wants to tap into the local market before anyone else. Remember there are currently I.22 billion of people living in India, that's a huge potential market for UFC. If UFC hits a homerun with India, then they will rake in hundred, no thousands, no hundred-thousand of millions of dollars.
http://www.indiaonlinepages.com/population/india-current-population.html
Aether
9/11/12 11:13:20PM
Posted by LuckyCharms
Posted by Aether
Strange. Of all of the countries to get a TUF, India is not one that I would've expected to be at the top of the list. Don't really know anything about India's fighting scene, I would guess there's going to be a lot of kickboxers though.
I was surprise too, but I think UFC wants to tap into the local market before anyone else. Remember there are currently I.22 billion of people living in India, that's a huge potential market for UFC. If UFC hits a homerun with India, then they will rake in hundred, no thousands, no hundred-thousand of millions of dollars.
http://www.indiaonlinepages.com/population/india-current-population.html
Ah yeah, of course you must be right. It has to be the population.
bjj1605
9/11/12 11:35:19PM
I agree that this is unexpected but I also think its awesome.
Spreading MMA around the world is only going to be good for fans and fighters alike.
I hope that the Indian fight scene changes MMA conventions in some big way.
Spreading MMA around the world is only going to be good for fans and fighters alike.
I hope that the Indian fight scene changes MMA conventions in some big way.
Manak
9/12/12 12:02:00AM
they did have a silver medalist in wrestling at london 2012, Sushil Kumar.
landstander
9/12/12 2:40:22AM
Some pockets of India do have a wrestling/grappling culture. The wrestlers live in the training barracks and train full time. They wrestle in small arenas and people bet on them. They had the people from the BBC show Last Man Standing go and train with them.
jjeans
9/12/12 7:47:47AM
I would not be surprised to see in 20/30 years India vs China championship bouts like how America vs Brazil seems to dominate championship events today
Bubbles
9/12/12 9:30:54AM
Posted by Aether
Strange. Of all of the countries to get a TUF, India is not one that I would've expected to be at the top of the list. Don't really know anything about India's fighting scene, I would guess there's going to be a lot of kickboxers though.
well they do have their own promotion: Super Fight League with a lot of local talent on the show
airkerma
9/12/12 11:28:18AM
What style of fighter do you ask? 10th degree blackbelt in yoga and fire spitting of course!
Svartorm
9/12/12 11:40:06AM
India was a part of the British empire for years and adopted boxing from them, and were a world power in wrestling in the early 1900's. The thing is, the poverty level of India is staggering, and finding world class fighters will be next to impossible there.
bjj1605
9/12/12 2:59:32PM
Posted by Svartorm
India was a part of the British empire for years and adopted boxing from them, and were a world power in wrestling in the early 1900's. The thing is, the poverty level of India is staggering, and finding world class fighters will be next to impossible there.
Actually, the best fighters usually come out of poor neighborhoods.
The guys who take up fighting full time often have no other opportunities (not that that's true of everyone *Cought* BJ Penn *Cough*).
In the USA, the best boxers have always been minorities or recent immigrants that have less opportunity than your average American (sometimes because of racism, sometimes because of language barriers).
In the early 1900's, the Irish dominated US boxing. Then African American fighters started to take over. Now Mexican Americans and Cuban Americans are dominating.
I think they will find plenty of young men in India that are eager for a chance to improve their lives.
Svartorm
9/12/12 3:29:48PM
American poor are far far far better off than Indian poor.
Yes, some of the best fighters are born from poverty, but India's class system ranges from mega rich to literally owning nothing. You cant learn to fight if you're starving to death. Its a very different world.
You also need to look at a place on the grand scale of sports to know if a country will produce fighters. Their big sports in India are cricket and cultural variations of the same. Those games don't have a real set "build" for their athletes, so its something that will cut into the MMA crop.
India does occasionally turn out a boxer or two, but they're from privilaged families and generally learned to box in college. In short, I don't ever see India being an MMA super power like China has potential for.
Yes, some of the best fighters are born from poverty, but India's class system ranges from mega rich to literally owning nothing. You cant learn to fight if you're starving to death. Its a very different world.
You also need to look at a place on the grand scale of sports to know if a country will produce fighters. Their big sports in India are cricket and cultural variations of the same. Those games don't have a real set "build" for their athletes, so its something that will cut into the MMA crop.
India does occasionally turn out a boxer or two, but they're from privilaged families and generally learned to box in college. In short, I don't ever see India being an MMA super power like China has potential for.
MMA-San
9/12/12 6:52:27PM
Eh, my girlfriend is from India, and her parents still live there. I wonder if they'll let me try out even if I'm white?
bjj1605
9/12/12 7:47:51PM
@Svartorm
I think we're going to have to agree to disagree on this one.
Thailand is an even poorer country than India. Admittedly, they probably have a much stronger fight culture (Muay Thai is the national sport). But the point remains that very poor members of society compete in Muay Thai and are often able to dramatically improve their lives because of it.
It's also true that India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world.
I think that, in time, we will see a lot of good Indian fighters. Only time will tell though.
I think we're going to have to agree to disagree on this one.
Thailand is an even poorer country than India. Admittedly, they probably have a much stronger fight culture (Muay Thai is the national sport). But the point remains that very poor members of society compete in Muay Thai and are often able to dramatically improve their lives because of it.
It's also true that India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world.
I think that, in time, we will see a lot of good Indian fighters. Only time will tell though.
Svartorm
9/12/12 8:38:20PM
Thailand is a fight culture though, while India isn't and never was. Poor kids can go to a muay thai camp and learn that craft in exchange for work and as a cash cow for the gyms. India has no such set-up, and fight sports are reserved for upper class. Wrestling was a big deal culturally for a long time, but that fell from the wayside. Fast growing economy, yes, but that doesn't translate to fast growing fight industry.