The Ultimate Fighting Championship has confirmed that they will be producing a second season of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil for airing on Brazilian television. The first season, which concludes with the TUF Finale on tomorrow’s UFC 147, saw coaches Wanderlei Silva and Vitor Belfort dramatically increase the profile of the UFC in their native land.
MMA Junkie spoke with UFC international kingpin Marshall Zelaznik, here are some highlights:
- The second edition of the series is targeted for 2013
- No coaches or weight classes have been determined
- It will stay on the same Sunday-night timeslot in Brazil
- “About 10 million people watched each week. We’re No. 1 in the timeslot. The AB demographic is the most upscale demographic, and we’re the highest-rated reality show in Brazil.”
- The UFC plans to produce as many as 5 versions of TUF in 2013 in different countries.
- TUF Brazil episodes drew as many as 100,000 online viewers per episode in the US.
While the UFC had a bit of bad luck that prevented them from mounting UFC 147 in a soccer stadium in Sao Paulo as originally planned, there’s little doubt that The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil was a big success in terms of cementing the promotion’s status as a hot new sport in Brazil. Now they just need to figure out how to synch the US and Brazilian markets better on pay-per-view.
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