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<h3><a href="/go=news.detail&gid=264189" target="_blank">
UFC looking for MMA's Yao Ming
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<a href="/go=news.detail&gid=264189" ><img class="photo" src="http://img.mixedmartialarts.com/method=get&rs=100&q=75&x=0&y=0&w=310&h=165&ro=0&s=709D8452-1D09-6BFC-E56511FB9E8FB492.jpg" /></a>
<strong class="ArticleSource">[mmaweekly.com]</strong>
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The UFC's global expansion has been a major goal of both UFC president Dana White and co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta over the last few years. The latest move the company made was hiring former NBA Asia executive Mark Fischer to run the UFC's Asian offices, and begin the process of bringing MMA and the UFC to China and other locations around Asia. He wants to make it clear right way that it won't be a fast process, but over time the UFC can be successful in Asia.
"I think initially we're focused on media exposure, forming up some of our television and Internet media coverage, getting the sport out to as many fans as possible, and then we'll move on to the next steps which will be events down the road. It won't be events right away," Fischer said recently.
"I think (500 million homes across Asia is) rough number of the initial potential that we could go after over the next two years. We could probably get that reached pretty quickly. Asia is home to 3 billion people, and a billion plus are in China, and the fact there sort if already is a very high aptitude towards martial arts. Not necessarily MMA, but I think that's an easy conversion, just given the roots of martial arts in Asia."
"We need to be sort of humble and conservative in our projections initially. There certainly will be push back from different sources, whether it's the government here or some private companies that see us as competition, maybe have vested interests there, and so we're going to have our challenges. I think long term though, the potential is fantastic."
"Yao Ming was a great catalyst. I think we'll find our Yao Ming eventually in China, and there are some very good Japanese and Korean fighters already in the UFC, and we want to build on that. As we go across Asia, we'll find others."