If you haven’t booked your tickets for the first-ever Ultimate Fighting Championship event to be held in Singapore on Saturday, time is quickly running out.
According to UFC Asia managing director Mark Fischer, the 6,000-capacity arena at the Marina Bay Sands Expo venue for UFC Fight Night Singapore on January 4th is “almost sold out”.
“There are tens of tickets left and it’ll almost certainly be a full house on Saturday,” he said during media day at Marina Bay Sands, two days ahead of the big Saturday fight.
Tickets for the 10-bout show– whose main highlight will see Belgian welterweight Tarec Saffiedine (14-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) and Korea’s Hyun Gyu Lim (12-3-1, 2-0) – cost between S$88 to S$488. VIP tickets cost a whopping S$688.
Six continents will be represented in the fight, and of particular interest to Singapore fans will be local favourite Royston Wee, who will take on Filipino David Galera in his first-ever UFC fight.
[See more pics of pre-UFC Singapore events here]
In fact, the success of ticket sales has already prompted Fischer to look at possibly staging another fight in Singapore at the end of the year.
“Quite possibly. If we do one it’ll be at the end of 2014, but we’re looking at doing it on an annual basis. Singapore is a great hub in terms of economics and tourism, plus we’re headquartered here now, so it makes sense to do at least one a year,” he added.
The UFC recently shifted its Asian headquarters from Beijing to Singapore, and now has a staff of 20 based in Singapore.
Singapore aside, UFC Asia has already earmarked Manila’s Mall of Asia arena for a fight in the second quarter of the year, with Fischer noting that the “Philippines have the largest UFC following per capita”.
“We’re looking at five, six shows with an outside chance of seven. All will be ‘Fight Night’ editions featuring top contenders and stars,” said Fischer on the elite promotion’s major 2014 push into Asia.
It is understood that other Southeast Asian markets like Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam are also on the UFC Asia list.
“There are huge populations in these countries, and they all have deep martial arts roots and traditions. They’re all catching on to the move towards MMA,” Fischer told USA Today.
Part of this push are also plans to launch UFC branded gyms in Asia but Fischer kept his cards close to his chest.
“The Asian MMA ecosystem just keeps building with more and more gyms popping up everywhere… We’re in discussions with a few parties,” he said. “A rising tide lifts all boats and UFC is the biggest ship right now.”
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UFC Fight Night in Singapore almost sold out: UFC Asia chief
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