When Zuffa purchased UFC in 2001, Dana White often told a story about how they expected, based on the popularity of boxing, that the U.K. and Mexico would become key international markets.
About a decade ago, White and UFC went on a wild spending spree advertising in the U.K., with the goal that every person in the country would hear about the UFC. Now, a decade later, MMA is featured regularly on television and it has remained a strong overseas market. London, which got its ninth UFC event Saturday night, more than any city in the world with the obvious exception of Las Vegas, remains strong.