UFC Brazil exec says country's busy year 'will be a very big challenge'

Dana White may have gotten a little ahead of himself this past fall when he said he was hoping the UFC would put on 13 events in Brazil in 2014.

Not long after, UFC executive Marshall Zelaznik said that goal was a lofty one, and not likely. But he admitted White’s motivations were not to be underestimated. The UFC boss clearly wanted to keep building the brand in Brazil and creating new standout fighters.

After Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 36, which took place in Jaragua do Sul, Grace Tourinho, managing director of UFC Brazil, said the company won’t hit White’s original goal. But she said the plan is to have as many events in Brazil in 2014 as the UFC had in 2013 – seven.

More than that would mean likely running into several key problems in Brazil that are unique to this calendar year.

“Obviously we’d like to hold as many events as possible in Brazil,” Tourinho said. “But nevertheless, this is a very difficult year for us to be able to hold many events, part of it because of Carnival coming up soon, and then we have the issue of the World Cup. Third, it’s an election year. So it will be a very big challenge for us. We will make the commitment to have the same number of events that we had last year.”

She also said the typical format of UFC shows in Brazil – Brazilian vs. a foreigner – isn’t set in stone. The company, she said, would put on a fight between two non-Brazilians if it meant a good show for the fans.

“We’ll always try to bring the best fights to Brazil, whether it’s two Brazilians or two foreigners,” Tourinho said. “For us, the most important thing is to have great fights in Brazil for the crowd.”

UFC Fight Night 36, which featured a main event between Brazil’s Lyoto Machida and Gegard Mousasi, drew some raised eyebrows due to its late start time. The main card started on FOX Sports 1 at 10:30 p.m. ET – which is 1:30 a.m. in Brazil.

That late start, Tourinho said, had to do with broadcasting commitments in the United States on FOX Sports 1. She told MMAjunkie that in this case, the fans in Brazil weren’t griping too loudly.

“In reality, our event is decided by the contracts we have with TV all over the world,” Tourinho told MMAjunkie. “So we have to make it happen when they want it to happen. But people wake up to watch it. People come to watch it. So I don’t think it’s a big problem. Today was a great example – it was a very late event, and we had a full house.”

The UFC returns to Brazil next month for UFC Fight Night 39 in Natal. And though a location hasn’t been announced, the UFC has already said an event will take place in the country on May 31 that will feature Chael Sonnen vs. Wanderlei Silva.

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 36, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(Pictured: Grace Tourinho)