Insane number considering ultimate fighter here had 1.1 million viewers But it's brazil mma is king there
It´s a new thing for most of the brazilians......and it´s a great number because the show ended at 1:20 AM.....very late.....so, definitely the number is surprising and huge considering the late time..... Make no mistake though, there are a bunch of brazilians who hate MMA with passion....
Evalistinho, their argument is that MMA is too violent and brutal.....brazilians aren´t used with combat sports in TV too much actually....and it´s quite shocking to some of them when they see it in the most famous brazilian channel (Globo)... Well, even boxing, there´s a famous sports writer who always said bad things about Boxing, saying that is for animals, it´s not a sport, etc.....It´s "lack of civility" he says.....
UFC did well to make America their home but all MMA fans always knew the size of the mma market in Brazil and maybe a few other places like Japan. However you have to get them to embrace your product.
Today it´s the second sport around here..... But even so you really don´t see the big sports shows and channels (even on cable) showing news on it too much..... There is Sportv (a Globo Channel) who have a show one day in the week with some interviews in 30 minutes........and Canal Combate, a PPV channel with combat sports 24 hours every day, but it is on cable with R$40 by month and totally separated from the other channels...... I mean, if you buy a sports newspaper you don´t see nothing about MMA, you see something often about motor sports, voleyball, but nothing about MMA to be honest...... If you turn the TV in some of your regular sports TV shows you don´t see MMA too much either..... But I think this can be changed in some years.....and I see some changes in those last 2 years..... In 2006-2007 if you asked the regular brazilian sports fan about MMA he wouldn´t say nothing but the Gracie Family..... MMA is big in Brazil now because Dana White and the Fertittas brothers did a great job....and because the biggest channel in Brazil, Globo, wanted it since they did UFC Rio last year.....
