MMA Junkie reports on Phoenix International Raceway and its continued sponsorship with Dominick Cruz despite his prolonged absence from the Octagon. Cruz returns to action this Saturday at UFC 178 as the headliner of the FS1 prelims.
In the past, Cruz has served as an “Honorary Pace Car Driver” for a NASCAR event at the raceway back in 2012. Despite the string of injuries that had kept him sidelined, the racetrack kept Cruz and its logo will appear on Cruz’s shorts Saturday.
Previously, Jon Jones, Benson Henderson and Anderson Silva have crossed lanes into NASCAR events to serve as pace car drivers and make appearances prior to races.
The raceway also announced Chuck Liddell will appear at the November 9th NASCAR event as a pace car driver.
Payout Perspective:
The continued relationship with Cruz shows patience and belief that he would return to the Octagon. Cruz is an Arizona native so it did make sense to continue the relationship since there was a natural tie-in. Also, Cruz has remained visible as an analyst for Fox so it was not like he had fallen off from the public view. The raceway wants to tap into the UFC audience as it sees it sharing the same demo as MMA.
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