UFC owner bets that MMA will be in the Olympics

Lorenzo Fertitta (photo) bets on an Olympic future for MMA. Photo: Disclosure

Two sports will make their debut on the Olympic program at the Rio Games in 2016, rugby and golf. If it depends on UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta, however, it is only a matter of time before the Olympics see the debut of another sport in its competitions: MMA. In an interview, the director spoke about the possibility of mixed martial arts reaching the Olympic Games and highlighted the importance of renewing the event to attract a young audience.

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“The Olympics are a business and they want to attract young audiences because of all these huge television contracts. We are going to make the UFC eventually part of the Olympics. If someone had told the Olympic Committee 20 years ago that their number one program (at the Winter Olympics) would be snowboarding in a half-pipe, they would possibly say you were crazy. But that's the way things are nowadays, because that's what kids want to watch – and that's the way we're going," Fertitta told the British TV channel BBC.

To become an Olympic sport, however, MMA has a long way to go. Firstly, the sport has to be practiced in 70 countries on four continents for men and 40 countries on three different continents for women. Soon after, it is necessary to try to get a place in the Games, but, to do so, it is necessary to count on the departure of another modality, decided at a congress – a measure by the Olympic Committee so that the competition program does not become too bloated and the event can be held be made impossible.