TUF 8 Has a Latin Flavor
August 21, 2008
UFC has a distinctive Latin flavor when viewing the cast of the most recent season of The Ultimate Fighter. There looks to have been a concerted effort on the part of the UFC to cast Hispanic fighters, as a means of increasing their appeal and reach to the Latino market. The Ultimate Fighter show is good way in reaching this market. The TUF show sells the sport but at the same time it sells the human interest story of the fighters themselves. The human interest angle along with the shared Latin heritage angle will be hooks that the UFC can use to help sell the sport to a more diverse audience.
MMA in general, and UFC as well, is not too diverse of a sport if one looks in the stands during a UFC event, in the Octagon or at the local level when it comes to MMA training. Recent reports in the media project Caucasians to become a minority:
By the mid-century mark, when the U.S. is projected to have a population of 439 million people, 54% of the population will consist of racial minorities. The largest growth will be among Hispanics, expected to number 133 million by 2050 — almost a third of the projected population growth between 2010 and 2050 — due to high birth rates and immigration.
The writing is on the wall as far as demographic trending goes, and the UFC is taking steps in several ways to reach and broaden their demographic appeal in preparation. The featuring of Hispanic fighters on TUF is one way of doing this. Another way is establishing a pipeline of MMA fighters from Mexico and Latin America. The UFC is currently scouting fighters in the Mexican market that might be ready to make the jump to the Octagon and the US market. Having a stable of fighters from Mexico and other Latin areas will help appeal to the Latino fans in the US who buy PPV’s and are able to attend live events and also gives them fighters they can then market back to their home countries as a means of raising the sport’s profile in these Latin markets.
Fighters of Latin descent on this year’s TUF include:
Charles Diaz
Age: 25
MMA Record: 3-0-0
Trains With: SD Fight Club
Location: San Diego , CA
Ryan Lopez
Age: 25
MMA Record: 5-3-0
Location: Oklahoma City , OK
Efrain Escudero
Age: 22
MMA Record: 10-0-0
Trains With: Southwest Martial Arts
Location: Tempe , AZ
Rolando Delgado
Age: 26
MMA Record: 7-3-1
Trains With: Westside Fight Team
Location: North Little Rock , AR
Jose Aguilar
Age: 25
MMA Record: 17-3-0
Trains With: Grapplers Edge
Location: Las Cruces , NM
