New UFC deal with BT Sport goes beyond just fighting into a culture shift, says Garry Cook Garry Cook, executive vice president and managing director of UFC in Europe, the Middle East and Africa UFC was created in 1993 and has mushroomed in the past five years into a mainstream sport in the US, reflected in a seven-year deal signed with the Fox network last year. In Brazil, for example, there are now 30 million regular viewers of UFC events. Brazil currently has two UFC champions, Anderson Silva at middleweight and Jose Aldo at featherweight. The aspirations are to develop British and Irish stars of the sport to sit alongside middleweight Michael Bisping, from Manchester, and London bantamweight Brad Pickett, both of whom are on the cusp of contending for world titles. UFC is one of several important sports that BT Sports has acquired the rights to air. UFC events will sit alongside the Aviva Rugby Premiership, the top French and Italian football leagues, Moto GP, the FA Cup, Nascar, NCAA Football, NCAA Basketball and the leading international tennis competitions. Based within the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in east London, BT Sport will operate three channels from three huge studios - at 80,000 square feet the largest in Europe - 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Cook compares the UFC brand to the shape of an iceberg. There's the bit at the top that everyone sees - the fights themselves and events - and then underneath there are stories, great elements that really fit human interest and elite performance sport. We will work together with BT Sport to portray those things. It's about making something exciting happen. We shouldn't just assume that this is a straightforward, linear rights deal. Simon Green [head of BT Sport] and his team are committed to producing a weekly show which will give people an insight into the sport - with a British flavour, British talent, British stories. It's a bold move but I absolutely know that it has worked in other countries. What BT Sport is doing is challenging a global brand to become more local. Cook said UFC was impressed by BT Sport's ambition. When you are a young business, you have to take risks, but you have to have a vision. There's no rear-view mirror. As we move forward, it will be about interactive media. There are gaming opportunities, fitness opportunities - and how we develop that consumption in the media world and with the rights holder will be the key to our success. We are doing the same thing as BT Sport because we are both new. It's going to be an exciting time. What is UFC? The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the world's leading fight promotion with around 350 mixed martial artists on its roster. Mixed martial artists use a combination of martial arts such as jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai and kick-boxing as well as skills from boxing, judo, wrestling and tae kwon do. UFC programming on BT Sport • More than 400 hours of programming over three years Coverage starts with UFC 163 live from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where Jose Aldo defends the UFC featherweight title against Anthony Pettis on August 3. More than 30 UFC events throughout the year The Ultimate Fighter series A weekly UK-dedicated UFC magazine show plus UFC magazine programmes produced in the USA How to watch UFC on BT Sport BT Sport will be free for anyone who subscribes to BT Broadband. The channels can also be obtained for £15 per month with a £3 supplement for HD. There will be three ways to access BT Sport programming: via BT Infinity, via a Sky box (whether or not you're a Sky subscriber) and via btsport.com