UFC officials encouraged by early response to Fight Pass digital network

(This story appears in today’s edition of USA TODAY.)

SINGAPORE – The UFC’s new digital network, UFC Fight Pass, features its first live event on Saturday with “UFC Fight Night 34: Saffiedine vs. Lim,” which streams on the new platform from Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Center.

The subscription service, which is accessible on a free trial through Feb. 28, currently is available in the U.S., Canada, New Zealand and Australia, and in 2014 is expected to feature at least 10 live events that will stream exclusively on UFC Fight Pass in those markets. Content will vary slightly in each market based on local television blackout rules and existing broadcast deals.

“UFC Fight Pass is a must-have for any MMA fan,” Marshall Zelaznik, the UFC’s chief content officer, told USA TODAY Sports and MMAjunkie. “We are giving fans access to the biggest MMA fight library in the world, plus delivering a minimum of 10 live and exclusive events fans won’t see anywhere else, as well as access to live Fight Pass prelims before pay-per-view and televised fight cards.

“UFC Fight Pass is for every MMA fan.”

Saturday’s event features 10 bouts, including a welterweight headliner between former Strikeforce champion Tarec Saffiedine (14-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC), a Belgian who makes his long-awaited UFC debut, and South Korean prospect Hyun Gyu Lim (12-3-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC), who has knockout wins in his two previous promotional appearances.

The rest of the card has a distinctly Asian flavor, as athletes from Guam, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand are scheduled to compete. UFC CEO and co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta said the mix of proven talent and promising prospects will be a hallmark of future fight cards streamed on UFC Fight Pass.

“At the end of the day, what we’ve tried to do is make sure that they’re headlined by two individuals that are ranked in the top 10 so that there’s true meaning behind the outcome of the event,” Fertitta said. “Does that happen every single time we have a Fight Night on FOX or historically when we did them on FUEL TV? No. But it’s a guideline. It’s what we tried to do, and that’s going to be no different than what we’re doing here on the Fight Pass network.”

UFC Fight Pass will cost $9.99 per month when the trial period ends. In addition to the exclusive live events, subscribers will have on-demand access to the company’s entire library of past contests (more than 2,500 fights in all), plus international versions of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series and a variety of newly created exclusive content from UFC events and public appearances by UFC personalities and fighters.

For now, UFC Fight Pass is available only online through desktop and laptops at UFC.tv/fightpass. But the company hopes to soon have the network available on numerous platforms, including leading tablets, smart TVs and other premier digital devices, including Samsung, LG, Roku, iOS and Android. The company has long teased the concept of an online network, but is now fully committed to the project.

“We’ve always been ahead of the game with new technology and finding new ways to reach our fans with our content, but we’ve clearly launched UFC Fight Pass at the right time,” Zelaznik said. “With the popularity of digital platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu, everyone gets what this is: access to a huge library of on-demand content, plus live fights.”

Zelaznik said UFC execs have been blown away by initial interest in the product and that the company’s official website has seen record traffic since the launch.

“If you are an MMA fan, we are giving you the keys to the candy store,” Zelaznik said. “This is what you’ve always wanted – the keys to the biggest fight library on Earth, plus at least 10 live events each year. This is a must-have for MMA fans.”

And for the latest on UFC Fight Night 34, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Marshall Zelaznik)