THE Ultimate Fighting Championship has revealed a multi-pronged plan to grow its brand Down Under with one executive calling Australia "pound for pound" its biggest market in the world.

The plan includes:

Breaking a deadlock with Victoria's government to hold an event in the state;

to hold an event in the state; Finalising a deal to have a free-to-air channel show its popular reality show The Ultimate Fighter ; and

; and Filming an Australia versus England season - nicknamed “the Smashes”.

Driving this aggressive expansion is the popularity of the UFC's events in Australia, which have drawn crowds willing to pay big dollars to watch the fights in the flesh.

Tickets to UFC 127, held in Sydney last Sunday, sold out in 30 minutes, a global record for the sport, with 18,186 spectators paying between $500 and $1500 for tickets with total gate sales of $3.5 million.

And this for a card that features fighters who are not household names.

To put that in context, it would take boxing superstars like Anthony Mundine and Danny Green to have any hope of a boxing event attracting a similar size crowd.

"Pound for pound this is our biggest market," managing director of UFC's international development, Marshall Zelaznik, said.

"The sky feels like it's the limit for us.

"Where else can we go as a company on a Sunday morning, afternoon and sell 18,000 tickets? I think that about sums it up.

He said Australians seemed to have a particular affinity for the sport.

"I think it's the open-mindedness to contact sport, and it's a very physical culture," he said.

"I don't think this culture pre-judges anything and they're super-big sports fans."

Health experts label cage-fighting 'barbaric'



While the sport is popular with fans, medical experts say participants could face debilitating long-term health effects and would like to see more studies before the sport is embraced as mainstream.

The Australian Medical Association's emergency medicine spokesperson, associate professor David Mountain, labelled the sport “barbaric”, saying it has “no place in a modern, civilised society”.

He said there was no incentive for organisations like the UFC to look into the long-term health effects of the sport.

“I doubt whether there are many people within the sport who are interested in doing longitudinal studies,” he said.

Tony Brow, a professor at Neuroscience Australia, said brain injuries like those sustained in mixed martial arts can cause Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) - a form of early dementia that is associated with repetitive brain injuries.

“Any fighting that involves damaging the brain can contribute to CTE,” Dr Brow said.

“(Cage fighting) is the last in a long line of damaging sports in which you aim to maim or kill people.”

But the UFC says mixed martial arts are no more dangerous than any other combat sport and extensive medical precautions are taken to ensure fighter safety.

The organisation says “after 17 years and over 1500 UFC bouts, the most serious injury suffered by an athlete is a broken arm”.

Elvis Sinosic, the first Australian to compete for a UFC title, also pointed out that it is in the UFC’s interest to ensure it’s fighters do not get hurt.

“From a fighter’s perspective, we’re looked after, because we’re there to fight," he said.

"From a business perspective, you gotta understand, the promoter wants to look after us. If we get damaged, and can’t continue, or can’t fight anymore, then he loses valuable revenue."

Still, deaths have occurred in mixed martial arts under other regulatory bodies, and sports doctor and former NRL player Dr Nathan Gibbs said because the sport is new, there had not yet been any long-term studies into its effects.

“Most of the effects of CTE become apparent later in life - 15, to 20 to 30 years after the repetitive brain injuries,” he said.

“If the sport is serious about becoming a recognised sport in Australia then it also has to be serious about monitoring the impact of head injuries long-term.”

UFC targets Victoria

Mr Zelaznik said the UFC is aiming to hold an event in Melbourne, with the 50,000 seat Etihad stadium mentioned as a possible venue, and had hoped to make the announcement on Sunday.

"We're making real progress, we had meetings all this week," he said.

"The interesting thing is Victoria allows MMA (mixed-martial arts), it just doesn't allow it in a cage.

"That's like saying you can play tennis on grass but not on clay."

Mr Zelaznik also confirmed The Ultimate Fighter reality show - credited with bringing the sport back from the brink of financial ruin in the US - will soon run on one of the new free-to-air digital TV channels in Australia.

Fighters and trainers are also excited about a possible Australia versus England season of Ultimate Fighter filmed in Las Vegas.

"Once the decision is made we'll move pretty quickly," he said.

"We're going to do The Ultimate Fighter here on the new network; hopefully we'll get that deal done next week.

"Assuming the ratings are as big as we think they're going to be that will be an indication to the network that it's time to invest in this."