The year for mixed martial arts got off to a rousing start with the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) holding its very first event in Southeast Asia early this month. Venue was Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.
The main event had Tarec Saffiedine and Hyun Gyu Lim squaring off, and the capacity crowd of over 5,000 fans was thrilled throughout the night!
Celebrities like singer Stephanie Sun, actor Adrian Pang, broadcast celebrity Jamie Yeo, author Hajime Isayama, and UFC fighter Cung Le were present during the night.
UFC Singapore has a broadcast reach of more than 500 million households and 1.5 billion viewers worldwide.
The night was also the launch event for UFC Fight Pass, as part of a free trial of UFC’s new digital subscription offering, reaching millions of fans in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
It also generated record ratings for a live broadcast of an MMA event in China and South Korea.
Look out for the UFC’s next offering in the region, which is Fight Night Macao: The Ultimate Fighter China Finale at the Venetian Macao on March 1.
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E-mail me at anthony@realsports.com.ph and follow me on twitter @anthonysuntay.