I spent last week enjoying the sun, the architecture and the culture in Dubai. It was my first time in the Middle East and everything was exciting and new for me. I was as wide-eyed as they come; marveling at buildings that had sudden twists and the seemingly never ending top of the world’s tallest building. My favorite part was watching camels walk along the beach. Although I wanted to ride one, I never got the opportunity to.

I did however take the opportunity to talk about the UFC. Given the new arrangement with the United Arab Emirates’ Flash Entertainment, I wanted to know what the local people thought about MMA and having the UFC in their backyards. Although I didn’t go to Abu Dhabi, I spoke with people who traveled from Dubai to Abu Dhabi for the first UFC card in the UAE.

My first challenge was the language barrier.  Arabic is a beautiful language, but I cannot understand a word of it. But because Dubai is a tourist destination, I met many English speaking people. I spoke with those who work in hotels, the mall or resort area. I noticed right away was that most people didn’t know what MMA or the UFC is.

At Atlantis, I met a young American man named Keon who works at Nobu, one of the restaurants in this gargantuan hotel. He told me that he and some of his coworkers were “amped about the UFC coming”. He was disappointed with UFC 112 but attributed the lack of excitement to the hot weather. He said his coworkers who were being introduced to the sport for the first time were disappointed. “They all said it was boring and that they prefer soccer” he said. But, Keon was optimistic saying that “as the local people learn the rules and learn the sport they will become more excited about it.”

The majority of people I asked didn’t know what I was talking about, but when I said “fighting” some of them would laugh and say “ah yes, no, I don’t like it.”  I went to the mall in Dubai, the Mall of the Emirates’ which would give West Edmonton Mall a run for its money with an indoor ski hill that looks like a real mountain. There I saw a kiosk where a man was selling cable providers. On the screen was a trailer for the UFC!  Around me were men in traditional Dishdasha’s and women in Abaya’s, and on the screen was Matt Hughes slamming someone down or Anderson Silva with his arms raised (I don’t remember the exact trailer). Although the sales man couldn’t tell me much about the UFC (or the sport of MMA) he could tell me how much money I would have saved if I switched cable companies.

My experience in Dubai was a great one. I was curious to hear what people thought about having the world’s fastest growing sport come to them. For the most part people don’t seem to be too excited by the idea. Most locals I met talked about soccer, although I did meet one or two cricket fans.

It will be interesting to see how the UFC does in the Middle East. Based on my conversations last week, I have some doubts but as the  UFC gains more exposure maybe more people will become fans of “fighting”.