What happened to the UFC in the U.K.?

Steve Cofield of Cage Writer attempted to answer that question while in Sydney (those damn colonial convicts!).

Cofield spoke to UFC U.K. chief Marshall Zelaznik, who says that the U.K. and Ireland may not get an event until the end of 2010.

"We're all motivated by the same things, to grow the sport. The way you grow it is by bringing events to other markets. In a perfect world, we'd be doing an event every weekend [in the U.K.]. That's not realistic, so we have to pick and choose."

"Everything's positive there [but] I think we need more fights. They're important for the market, for the media, for the fans. The fans understand it deep down. It's okay to want more. So we're going to try to deliver it."

What does our U.K. resident think about this?

Here is what I don't understand: Zelaznik says we have three television deals in the U.K. and the market is gagging for more fights. It will cost more to hold an event in Australia and yet they are going there before they come to my side of the pond again. In the spirit of one Mr Peter Griffin, "do you know what really grinds my gears?!" Dana White talks about developing the sport, developing the sport in my view means working on one market at a time instead of many at once, it spreads the organization thin and what happens then? Yes ladies and gentlemen it falls.  Whats next? whats next? WHATS NEXT?!

Did Chris just have an aneurysm?

It is ironic that when the UFC was routinely holding events in the U.K. --which were loaded with local talent-- most North American fans believed there was a serious talent gap between the U.K. fighters west of Prime Meridian. Now that the UFC is avoiding not holding an event in England, there is a British number one contender and another on the cusp of a title shot.

SBN coverage of UFC 110: Nogueira vs. Velasquez