ESPN MMA’s Carlos Contreras Legaspi sits down with UFC president Dana White to discuss the promotion’s return to Mexico City, …
Dana uh thanks for having us here thank you it’s first time you’re going to back to Mexico since the pandemic 2019 how excited are you for coming back and how do you feel that the fans are right now like that the the fan base has changed after all this success in the last couple of years well I feel like when we go into these markets uh like you said we haven’t been there since before the pandemic 2019 um you know every time we get back to a place we haven’t been for a while it it explodes but there’s just so much more than just that going on right now if you look at um you know the opening of the pi the fight that we’re going to do down there the plans that I have for the sphere um on Mexican Independence Day uh you know I’m I’m I am all in on Mexico right now so my return to Mexico is something that I’ve been waiting for for a long time so this is a big one for me that’s important and tickets sold out like really fast obviously the fans are really excited how hard parties to to get a pay-per-view back in Mexico last time it was 2015 when Basquez fought beron UFC 188 yeah so we’re in a much different place now than we were in 2015 number one we we have obviously have more Mexican Stars than we’ve ever had uh Champions um we uh are all in and invested in in Mexico now with the opening of the pi and um you know now I’m actually doing Mexican you know I I never did Independence Day or Cinco de Mayo or any of that stuff before and now I’m at a place you know if you look at the next several years with the pi opening down there we should be doing a lot of fights in Mexico not just um fight nights but pay-per-views many pay-per-views so what’s it going to take nothing I mean we’re here we’re there it’s it’s everything is about to about to explode for us in Mexico maybe at the time maybe about timing right like having the champion obviously for a pay-per-view you need yeah once we get this Pi open and everything starts clicking for us the the the whole landscape of of uh Mexican MMA is going to change over the next five or six years when you were like planning the first The Ultimate Fighter Latin America after that first development program what you were thinking I mean you thought it was it was going to get like at this this size like having Champions and from that generation because Moreno Rodriguez also Vera was there in the first development program what were your thoughts when you were playing that first uh The Ultimate Fighter yeah what I was hoping for was to to to to build the sport down there and and get it to the point where we would have world champions I mean if you look at all the markets that we’ve gone to you know when we went into Canada we ended up with Canadian Champion right we uh we go into Australia we ended up with multiple Australian Champions and and and and people from that region China we ended up with a with the Chinese World Champ Brazil I mean the list goes on and on Mexico is no different I mean I I’ve said it it many times you know how I feel about the Mexican people and and uh how I feel about their place in history as Fighters so it was just a matter of getting the leg work done and getting in there and and and launching The Ultimate Fighter now getting a pi done down there and uh continuing to invest in in Mexico and Mexican Talent how how they did no W became an idea for you like something you could well I mean you saw how that played out we we had Mexican Champions and I said what the hell am I doing why am I not doing something on Independence Day or s m so we literally flipped on a dime we did that event it was a huge success and now this year going into Mexican Independence Day I’m going to pull off the greatest live sporting event ever done in the sphere and it is going to be a a love letter to Mexican Fighters you have no idea how big and how badass this is going to be if you are Mexican you have to be be at this event or watch this event to be there live will be will be an experience that um nobody has ever had in Combat Sports and we’ll never have again you and I were talking about topor and how how that’s all blowing up um we got International fight week and then we have uh Mexican Independence Day at the sphere it’s just this year is insane tons of good stuff but um I’m telling you right now if you’re Mexican this is going to be the greatest live sporting event you’ve ever seen this is quite a different venue for for like concerts and everything that like for everyone that’s been there it’s a different venue for anything that’s ever been done and I mean just for the concerts and you two is using this much of the capabilities of the sphere I’m going to use this much of the capabilities of the sphere and um will be the first sporting event to ever do it because you know that I’m going to spend the money and I’m going to do it right and when I say that I’m going to deliver something I’m going to deliver how big has been the challenge for your team like because it even the the setup for the SE seating and everything is is quite different than any other menu have it’s incredibly challenging it’s it’s you know the question is that you know people always ask me why why why would you do this why why why why do this why because nobody has and most people think it can’t be done everybody the the night that I started talking about doing this fear people were like it won’t work here this doesn’t work for a fight the layout the this the that you know there’s there’s 50 million reasons why it won’t work there and I’m going to show everybody in September why it will work there one of the most like uh particular things about noo was the the graphics like they had like the Mexican theme and and the music and everything and it seems like people enjoy that a lot like embrac it like not not only the Mexicans but seems like it was something fresh for for UFC fans around the world like this this looks like a different fight night it’s just not regular fight and I mean I can’t imagine like the huge screen and everything that could could play I wish I didn’t have long sleeves on and I’d show you the Goosebumps that I have right now you have no idea how badass this is going to be it’s going to be incredible and you’re absolutely right the Mexican people have an energy about them the love for their country the support of their own and it’s it it it it translates into a live event and it translates on television people feel it and people like it and people respect it and um we’re going to take that to a level that nobody’s ever seen before it’s G to be like like um it’s going to be like a movie or a TV show or a documentary and a sporting event all colliding into one it’s it’s going to be amazing all people is looking forward for that that that is going to be like a yearly event right like Mexican Independence weekend yeah but the sphere will be a one-time a onetime event even if it’s just really successful or um yeah I shouldn’t who knows I I don’t know but yeah I’m looking at this as like a onetime event when you put on an event you put together a p&l and you know it’s a business I talk about this all the time we run a business and we make money and people th this this this is more than a business deal for me this this this event this is much more to me then this isn’t about making money I’m actually going to spend money on this event this is much bigger for me me than than anything I I want this I want to do it and I want to do it right and I want to pull off something that nobody will ever pull off ever again you I know you probably had like U other uh um like like you had other uh stuff planned before not you regret not being in the arena that night like I know your team told you like the atmosphere was great yeah but I watched it on TV and and and it you know you’ve done it we’ve all done it you’ve had the those events that you were at and you were like you have no idea it was so incredible being here but then there’s another experience at home and then there’s another experience if you watched it in a bar I had the home experience but yeah I I heard the in-house experience was amazing and the attendance was over 18,000 and it was the most watched five night on on ESPN plus it seems like it it felt like a pay-per-view right right you think it could become a pay-per-view at some at some point like Mexican Independence Day yeah yeah absolutely absolutely are you planning to stay like like a no with all this is all it’s not like um the Mexican events are only fight nights it just happened that that was that night because I had to shift and move things around because I messed up and didn’t you know go go on that date with with with my Mexican Champions um but we were in a different place than we are now there there won’t be any questioning whether anything would be a pay-per-view or a fight night it’s and it’s all the same anyway I mean at the end of the day um it’s about the event and how good or bad it is you’re a big boxing fan and last year was a big year for boxing a bunch of fights that probably were hard to make happen you think it it could coexist like uh the Mexican Independence Day still happen with boxing and in in MMA like for the the rest of because Canelo might be like retiring the next three or or four years right probably and there’s no not not not no big St or not not not at the levels of of Canelo at the moment like you have Kime Mong or you have another names but no one is that size of what Canelo is now we can always coexist there’s always going to be you know listen obviously these Mexican traditional dates for boxing have always been big for them and um I I expect that to remain the same as long as they have a Mexican Star as big as Canelo so um yes we we we can we can always share those dates I mean they’re going to be at the T-Mobile and I’m basically going to be you know down the street at the sphere what are the L year uh everything um worked out to have Alexa grassler there like Mexican Champion uh defending the belt in in no said what are uh her chances to defend again there because obviously we’re early in the year it’s going to be until September or um you have any other plans if if you don’t have by the moment you don’t have another Mexican Champion yeah um of course she’ll be back I mean she’s recovering and uh when she’s ready to go we’ll get her we’ll get her out there yeah there’s a lot of talent coming out out of Mexico as we mentioned as I mentioned it was 20 20 Mexican born Fighters right now but it seems like uh Mexico’s becoming a Gateway for Latin American fighters we have Diego Lopez who trains in uh L J with Alexa and and Irene we have Michael Morales who who trains in in Tijuana big Prospect for welterweight why would you think why do you think Mexico is becoming uh this gayway for for La it always has been it always has been I mean if you look at I I say this all the time some of the baddest human beings That Ever Walked the face of this Earth have been Mexican um there’s always been uh you know places to train good sparring um you know uh access to um uh for guys to get into boxing or you know or UFC through through uh Mexicans and it’s only going to get bigger now it’s it’s it’s only going to go like this W with the opening of the pi and uh now with all these world champions coming out of Mexico because the reality is when when you’re a world champion the way other people become top five in world champions is coming in and being your sparring partner and training with you every day that’s how you get better so you’re always is going to have people that will uh migrate and gravitate toward the best in the world with the B opening how how many I mean Spa how much space is there for fighters from other countries like from Argentina Peru Ecuador out the gates I’m not looking for fighters from other countries they can come to the pi in Vegas what I want in Mexico is I want to take kids off the street I want kids that that are in the streets and and and have uh have nothing have nothing to look forward to to come into the pi and learn how to train learn how to do Jiu-Jitsu learn how to do muai um and and learn lots of other skills there and not all these kids are going to grow up and become Fighters but they’ll become coaches or they’ll touch the sport in some way shape or form that’s that’s what the pi is going to be for when you expect it to be like fully operational with the academy uh like the training and and development we’re gonna go down there and do the ribbon cutting and and it should be almost done when I get there so I expect it to be done shortly after I cut the ribbon so you’re going uh to the fight we five week in Mexico right it’s going to be like your first time for an a live event in in around seven years in Mexico City so how excited are you like this is going to be like the atmosphere is going to be it’s almost 10 years I don’t think I’ve been there since 15 so so yeah it’s I’m excited I mean I I don’t know how much more I could say in this interview or any more interviews that I do how much I love Mexico the people the culture um you know the the the the fighting spirit that they have so this whole thing has been you know a plan for me I wouldn’t say since day one Mexico’s always been a plan since day one but you know probably five or six years into it once we started thinking about the ultimate fighter and where we’re going to go Mexico has been has been very important to me um at at some point you did Contender series for Brazil and before the pandemic uh I as I asked you one time about if if it do a chance to do Contender series for Latin Fighters and you were thinking about it I mean obviously the pandemic changed everything and you have the Apex like fully operational like almost every week now but is you see that happening at some point like having enough talent to do just a contender series for here here’s the thing that you have to think about coming out of the pandemic right we we went through the pandemic but coming out of the pandemic I thought there was going to be this huge like all the talent was going to be dried up because all these shows didn’t go on and kids weren’t weren’t fighting and getting experience that didn’t really happen but now that everything’s back in full swing I think you’re going to start um see we’re pulling Talent from all over the world right now for the contender series but as it starts to get bigger we’re only doing it once a year starts to get bigger yes I could see a day where we do the contender Series in in Mexico was your first uh Mexican born fighter in that was 2008 right now we’re getting close to 50th uh Mexican born fighter when you think about right now you have 20 Mexican born Fighters and you have all these Champions and all these tal what what comes to your mind I mean well you’re starting to have these Generations now that are growing up with UFC you know what I mean uh when you and I grew up I’m older than you but when you and I grew up even for you boxing was you know Mexican had boxing gloves running through their veins man it was it was like and that’s all starting to shift now you’re starting to see this younger generation that’s growing up training and mixed martial arts and wanting to be MMA fighter so it’s just going to get bigger and bigger and bigger I mean everything that we’ve been talking about here today it’s all just getting bigger and the pi is going to going to be a game changer in town of Mexico what do you picture picture in five years after the pi opening I mean it’s just it’s going to be a whole another level the the the level of talent that will be coming out of Mexico um could could be the same as Brazil I mean really when you think about it since before we own the UFC the amount of talent and world champions that have come out of Brazil I think the only country that could rival that is Mexico