Africa is a continent made up of over 1.216 billion in 54 counties. The continent has some of the world’s fastest-growing economies and interest in sports outside of Africa grows every day. Unfortunately, the popularity of the Ultimate Fight Championship and mixed martial arts continues to grow slowly in Africa.
Although the UFC and MMA have had top fighters come from the African continent, the fanbase is still growing compared to other regions including Oceania, Asia, and South America. Francis Ngannou (Cameroon) and Israel Adesanya (Nigeria) are two of the top fighters to emerge from Africa over the years. Both have been success stories in UFC, and have helped grow the sport in Africa.
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UFC and MMA have some barriers to increasing their popularity on the continent. These barriers will need to be conquered for the MMA to become one of the most popular sporting events.
Interest in other sports
The biggest barrier MMA has in Africa is pre-existing interest in other sports. Soccer is the most popular sport in Africa, and it is played in all 54 countries. Many kids grow up playing soccer in the streets of their local neighborhoods or schoolyards.
Soccer is an easy sport for kids and grownups to access. In addition, basketball, cricket and rugby are played across the continent. All three sports attract athletes seeking to go professional one day. In addition, long-distance and middle-distance running are popular in certain parts of Africa.
Lack of training facility
There is a lack of MMA gyms and facilities to train across the continent. The sport is still in its infancy in Africa, which means potential fighters don’t have access to gyms to train. In addition, there is a lack of knowledge being passed on from experienced coaches. The combination makes it difficult to train fighters.
Africa is huge in size and the transport links around the continent are subpar in many areas. This adds to the inability of fighters to get the training they need. It also prevents fighters from attending tournaments, fight camps, or shows. In the United States, Las Vegas is the center of MMA. Africa doesn’t have an epicenter for UFC.
Lack of coverage
Soccer, basketball, cricket, running, and rugby receive the lion’s share of media coverage. These are the biggest sports in Africa and the popularity of each differs depending on the country. There isn’t much time or space to cover other sports, and the interest may not be available.
UFC doesn’t receive the same amount of coverage. Getting the broadcast rights for UFC events can be tricky, and even if coverage is available in an African country, it doesn’t mean there are viewers ready to watch it.
In 2021, there were numerous articles written about African fighters potentially taking over and dominating UFC. However, unless these issues are addressed, the stream of African fighters may slow down.