Fresh of a major deal with Inner Mongolia Television, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) today announced a new multi-faceted television agreement in Mexico with Grupo Televisa, S.A.B., the world’s largest Spanish-speaking media company.
Grupo Televisa will launch Televisa Deportes Network (TDN), a new national sports network broadcast on cable and satellite households in Mexico and in countries in Latin America, making it the first television network in Mexico to air UFC live events and flagship programming.
In addition, Grupo Televisa will air a nationwide broadcast of UFC 100 on Saturday, July 11, starting at 10pm Central Time on Channel 9, one of its free television networks in Mexico.
From UFC President Dana White:
"I’ve said for years that we would love to bring the UFC to Mexico, some of the greatest fighters in history are from Mexico, and the fans there are among the most passionate and loyal in all of sports. We are honored that Grupo Televisa will launch TDN with UFC live events and programs, and that UFC will now be available to our fans in Mexico, starting with Channel 9’s free broadcast of UFC 100 on July 11."
TDN’s UFC schedule will consist of live UFC Fight Night events, UFC Countdown shows, as well as the weekly series Guerreros del UFC, a Spanish-language compilation show featuring some of the greatest bouts in UFC history.
With this new deal, the UFC can now capitalize on the popularity of MMA fighters of Mexican descent like Diego Sanchez, Leonard Garcia and Miguel Torres, who are steadily becoming household names south of the border.
In addition, they can ride some of the free publicity that Bellator Fighting Championships generated when the promotion debuted on ESPN Deportes earlier this Spring.
The Ultimate Fighter reality show is currently a hot ticket in Mexico courtesy of DirecTV, and no question the UFC will be looking to hold a live event from Mexico in 2010 and beyond.