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SPORTSThursday 24 December 2015
New promotion courts Latino fans to mixed martial arts
Jose Aldo, from Brazil, right, and Chan Sung Jung, from South Korea, battle during their mixed the Latino market is ready help. The company is will-
martial arts Featherweight Championship bout in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. to embrace his grow- ing to sign fighters with only
ing sport. one Latino grandparent
(AP Photo/Felipe Dana,File) “Hispanic fans may have and a level of fluency — or
heard of the UFC, but they lack thereof — that makes
GREG BEACHAM martial arts action reaches company is making a big- might not know what it is,” its television producers
AP Sports Writer about 40 million homes with ger effort to convert those McLaren said. “No one has chuckle, but language skills
LOS ANGELES (AP) — In the all the professional polish of Latino fans than Combate brought along this audi- are nearly as valuable as
cage under the disco ball a UFC telecast. But a Com- Americas, the brainchild of ence. No one has said, ‘We jiu-jitsu skills to McLaren.
at Hollywood’s Florentine bate Americas show is ac- UFC co-creator Campbell welcome you, whether you “This is a Hispanic-based
Gardens, a featherweight companied by something McLaren. know about this sport or fight organization,” McLar-
from Minnesota nicknamed unusual in the MMA world: Once little more than a re- not.’ We present an en- en said. “It was formed to
“Sexy Mexy” puts an arm Latino sports fans are the ality show with big dreams, vironment where the an- give new Hispanic fight-
triangle choke on his oppo- primary reason pro boxing Combate Americas will nouncers very purposely ers an opportunity. That
nent, thrilling several hun- still exists in the U.S., accord- grow next year with six explain what’s going on. doesn’t mean only Hispan-
dred fans who paid about ing to no less of an author- events and an array of They’re not talking down to ic fighters, but we’re very
$10 to get in. ity than boxing promoter prominent corporate part- the audience. They don’t focused on it. I think the
On television, this mixed Bob Arum. No current MMA nerships. McLaren believes assume you know some- UFC obviously has a great
thing.” feeder system set up that’s
Combate Americas was very important to their or-
founded four years ago, ganization, but I’m looking
but the Florentine Gar- in places the UFC isn’t.”
dens fights were its third From the Mexican border
real event. McLaren has to the Hispanic-dominat-
focused largely on the pro- ed suburbs of Chicago,
motion’s reality program Combate Americas looks
on the network NBC Uni- for prospects like Ricardo
verso, enticing Latino view- Palacios, who chose MMA
ers into an unfamiliar world over boxing as a way to
with behind-the-scenes sto- lose weight back home in
ries and training. McAllen, Texas.
That’s all changing in 2016: “I would see a lot of Bruce
Combate Americas plans Lee, Chuck Norris, (Jean-
to put on a show every Claude) Van Damme, Ste-
other month and has hired ven Seagal, even the Pow-
staff, selected venues and er Rangers,” said Palacios,
bolstered its roster. who won a split decision in
While Spanish-language his Hollywood bout. “MMA
skills and Latino roots aren’t can grow like boxing with
a requirement, they sure Latinos.
Ski federation bans drones after camera nearly hits racer
ERIC WILLEMSEN its World Cup races after FIS will prohibit drones “as ner told The Associated cel was not hurt,” Waldner
Associated Press one of the flying objects long as I am responsible ... Press on Wednesday, a day said. “I am very angry.”
VIENNA (AP) — The interna- crashed and nearly hit Aus- because they are a bad after the night race in Ma- The drone carrying a TV
tional ski federation is ban- trian skier Marcel Hirscher thing for safety,” men’s donna di Campiglio. camera came down and
ning camera drones from during a slalom in Italy. race director Markus Wald- “It was huge luck that Mar- shattered on the icy slope
just behind Hirscher, a few
seconds after the Olympic
silver medalist started his
second run.
The company responsible
for the drone, sports mar-
keting agency Infront, said
its initial investigation “indi-
cates a malfunction of the
drone.”
“The most likely reason is
a strong and unforeseen
interference on the oper-
ating frequency, leading
to limited operability,” In-
front said in a statement.
“The pilot followed the of-
ficial security procedure,
purposely flying the drone
as close as possible to the
ground before releasing it.
The aim was to destroy the
drone, in order to prevent it
from losing control.”
