Mixed Martial Arts a.k.a. MMA is the third most popular sport in the world. It’s just behind soccer and basketball in global popularity. There are nearly half a billion MMA fans around the globe, and that number is expected to increase significantly over the next couple of years.
If you’re wondering where those fans are coming from, we’re now going to show you the five countries that love MMA the most.
5. Brazil
Soccer is the most popular sport in Brazil, but the world’s sixth-largest nation also has a large number of MMA athletes and fans. In fact, Brazil stands in the third place when it comes to the number of UFC fighters by country, just behind Russia and the United States.
Not only do Brazilians love MMA but they’ve been very successful as well. In fact, some of the greatest fighters in the history of the UFC are from Brazil. Amanda Nunes, for example, is one of the most successful female fighters on the planet. She is also the only member of the UFC who’s defended titles in two different weight classes while holding both.
Then, there’s Anderson Silva, who’s probably the man most responsible for the boom in MMA’s popularity in Brazil in the first decade of the 21st century. It’s a similar story when it comes to Junior dos Santos, whose win over Cain Velasquez in 2011 still holds the record for the highest number of viewers on TV in the history of the sport. More than 8.8 million people tuned in to watch him win the UFC Heavyweight title.
4. Russia
Russia’s love for mixed martial arts goes all the way back to the early days of the Soviet Union. The story goes that in the 1920s, the Soviet secret police developed their own version of MMA called Sambo. In the beginning, Sambo was a self-defense technique. In fact, its name is actually an acronym of the term “samozashchita bez oruzhiya” meaning self-defense without weapons.
Over the years, Sambo turned into a combat sport, which was included in the 1980 Moscow Olympics as a demonstration sport. Still, it was only after the fall of the Soviet Union that the sport gained international recognition. In fact, Russian Sambists who started competing in international MMA tournaments around the turn of the century were the ones to spread the word about the sport.
Fedor Emelianenko is probably the best example of a Sambist-turned-MMA star in the early 21st century. His success inspired others to start practicing MMA, which led to a spike in the number of Russian fighters in MMA promotions around the world.
Then, in the 2010s, Russian fighters started conquering the UFC. The man who achieved the most success is Khabib “The Eagle” Nurmagomedov, who ended his career at the age of 32 with a record of 29-0. Many think of him as the GOAT, while there’s no doubt he’s the best fighter ever to compete in the UFC Lightweight division.
3. Nigeria
At the moment of writing, there are two Nigerians who hold a championship belt in the UFC – Israel Adesanya (middleweight) and Kamaru Usman (welterweight). Both of them earned their titles in 2019, with each making five successful title defenses.
The success story of the two has made other Nigerians fall in love with the sport. The result is that the number of fighters from Nigeria is steadily increasing. New MMA gyms are popping up all around the country.
It’s pretty much the same story in Senegal, the home country of the current UFC Heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou. The popularity of MMA keeps increasing in other parts of Africa as well – Cameroon, Ghana, Congo, and so on.
2. Japan
There’s only a handful of Japanese MMA fighters who have competed in the UFC. This, however, doesn’t mean fighters from Japan aren’t good. On the contrary, they’re among the best fighters on the planet. The reason why we haven’t been seeing them fight in the UFC too often is that the developed local fighting leagues and events in Japan and Asia.
In the past, there was PRIDE, now there’s RIZIN, which is one of the most popular MMA promotions in Asia. Then, there’s also Pancrase, Shooto, ZST, and many others. Furthermore, Japanese fighters often compete in the ONE Championship, a Singapore-based event.
All of the aforementioned events get a lot of attention in Japan, with a majority of the country’s 125.8 million residents watching fights at least once a year.
1. United States
The country that loves the sport of MMA the most is the United States. It has the largest number of professional fighters, as well as the largest number of amateur MMA practitioners. Further, most of the viewers of UFC pay-per-view/TV broadcasts are Americans.
Finally, most UFC champions are from this country. In fact, with more than 50 champions, the US is the country with the most successful fighters.
When it comes to the United States, it’s not just the UFC. This country is the home to many other major promotions, including Bellator MMA, which is the world’s second most successful MMA organization.
Final Thoughts
The sport of MMA is growing exponentially over the past few years. There seems to be no stopping the popularity of this sport around the globe. In a few years it’s likely this list will be drastically different. Trends show that Asia and Africa will probably be the new big markets, but only time will tell.