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DALLAS — American Airlines Center officials confirmed Thursday that Saturday’s UFC 103 show will be the highest-grossing sports event in ticket sales revenue at the 8-year-old venue.
If it weren’t for some rock band named the Rolling Stones, the mixed martial arts bouts would be No. 1 all time at the AAC. The UFC could still set the record for total income if it can hawk enough T-shirts and beer.UFC’s outspoken president Dana White, a modern day, trend-setting showman, is the mind behind the success of the sport. White offered the Star-Telegram his thoughts on all things UFC:When UFC began there were clear fighting styles from sumo to jiu-jitsu to boxing. What are your thoughts on the MMA style today? It started as these guys got together and see which style is the best. But the answer to the question is no one style is the best, you need to have a little piece of everything to be a complete fighter. Bruce Lee was preaching that back in the 60s.UFC has spawned video games and reality shows, so what’s next? We’re taking this thing global. We’re putting on fights in all these other countries. We’re putting on fights all over England and Ireland, Germany. We’re going to Australia next year. … My question is when this thing goes global and everybody cares when you have a fight on all over the world, what are the pay-per-view buys going to be on the internet? Four million, 7 million?. So that’s my long-term goal.What has The Ultimate Fighter reality show done for the UFC? The problem was that this thing was so tainted. We couldn’t get it on television. We were trying to do fight shows and everyone was terrified. So the reality show was our Trojan horse. It was our last resort. None of us were crazy about putting on a reality show and I definitely wasn’t crazy about being on one. … Thank God it worked out.What can you tell us about Fort Worth’s Justin Wren, who’s appearing on the Ultimate Fighter 10, which debuted on Wednesday? I hate to even talk about anything on the show because any little thing I say can sway you one way or another on the show. But I like Justin Wren. I like him and he impressed me. I was impressed.Where is Dana White in relevance to boxing promoters Bob Arum and Don King? I have no clue, I don’t know. Obviously Bob Arum and Don King are huge promoters, probably the biggest ever in boxing history. I’ve been very fortunate that I’ve looked at all the mistakes and the things that boxing did and we’ve used boxing basically as a plan of what not to do. But if it weren’t for them and the things they did we wouldn’t have the blueprint that built the UFC.What would Dana White be doing if you weren’t doing this? I’d be parking your car out front right now.
UFC 103 Franklin vs. BelfortSaturday, American Airlines Center; Gates open at 4:50 p.m. with preliminary bouts beginning at 5:20 p.m.TV: SpikeTV 8 p.m.-9 p.m. (two preliminary fights); 9 p.m. pay-per-viewTickets: $100-$450; Ticketmaster or American Airlines CenterNotable: Tickets are still available for the bouts. … The 13-bout card will set the UFC record for most fights in a single event. … The main event features Rich Franklin (former middleweight champion) against Vitor Belfort (former light heavyweight champion) in a "catch-weight" bout at 195 pounds, which is between the 185- and 205-pound divisions.
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