[UFC 121] Brock Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez: A Great Business Decision That Went Under The Radar

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Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez at UFC 121 for the UFC Heavyweight title.  To put it simply, this fight is going to be spectacularly awesome.  Over the coming months, much is going to be said and written about this mouthwatering, blockbuster of the fight, but something that may be overlooked is the excellent business decision the UFC made with this fight:  the location. 

I am sure you have heard Dana White say that the "UFC will be the biggest sport in the world by 2020" (funny how he said UFC not MMA, but that is a topic for a different post) and part of that plan is the UFC’s global expansion which has already start.  The UFC has already held successful events in Europe, Canada, the Middle East and Australia with plans to go to South America and possible Japan sometime in 2011. But one way Dana White and the UFC are expanding their brand globally is being done here in the good old U S of A. 

UFC 121 is going to be held in Anaheim, California which is only a little over an hour away from the Mexican border.  So don’t think it is a coincidence that a Mexican-American fighter, Cain Velasquez, is headlining the event (also other Mexican Americans Tito Ortiz and Diego Sanchez are on the card).  Dana White knows that Velasquez could be the key to holding the UFC’s first event in Mexico which is something he has said he wants to do in the near future.  The UFC can’t hold an event in Mexico until they have their own Mexican superstar to headline the event.

While I have no inside information, one has to think that Dana White would have loved to have Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez for the UFC Heavyweight strap as the main event for the first UFC event to be held in Mexico, but holding it in Anaheim is a close second.  Like I mentioned above, Anaheim is very close to the Mexican border and southern California has a huge Mexican population, most likely making the crowd that night pro-Velasquez.  Last time Velasquez fought in SoCal was UFC 113 in Los Angeles and I do remember the great reception he got from the many Mexican-American fans in attendance (and non Mexican-American) as he made his way to the Octagon.  I expect the crowd at UFC 121 to give Velasquez an even bigger ovation as he enters the arena.

This bout from a business perspective is going to be a win-win for the UFC no matter who leaves Anaheim with the strap.  If Velasquez wins, the UFC now can promote him as the UFC’s great Mexican fighter and possible have his first title defense to be the first event held in Mexico.  If Lesnar wins, they can keep on riding Lesnar’s huge PPV numbers and Velasquez will get a ton of exposure in the process because he is fighting Lesnar.  This extra exposure will surely introduce him to a new audience of Mexican and Mexican-Americans that may not have known about him before.  No matter what, the UFC is going to get the exposure it wants to expand their brand south of the border. 

A lot of people might think that the UFC would have got the same benefits from having Velasquez fighting for the Heavyweight title if this event were to be held in say, Pittsburgh, for example or Germany as UFC 121 was first intended, but that is not the case.  Consider this, when UFC 104 was held in Los Angeles, it was covered by ESPN Los Angeles, the local new stations and newspapers (I know, I am currently a resident of LA).  The audience for these news outlets are mainly Mexican American. LA is also the second biggest media market in America behind New York City.  If UFC 121 were to be held in Pittsburgh or Germany, the local stations out here in LA would not be covering it, therefore limiting the exposure of the desired audience.  UFC 121 taking place in Anaheim gives it the added benefit of being covered by the locate news outlets making this location decision a good move. No, great move. 

All I can say now is, well done UFC.