5 fighters who opened up new international markets for the UFC

#2. Anderson Silva – former UFC middleweight champion (Brazil)

Anderson Silva became a genuine mainstream star in his home country of Brazil

Brazil has always been a hotbed for MMA, which is hardly a surprise when you consider that the sport arguably originated there in the form of Vale Tudo and that Royce Gracie was the UFC’s original superstar after winning three of the promotion’s first tournaments.

Despite having a number of Brazilian stars like Murilo Bustamante and Vitor Belfort over the years, the UFC never really exploded in popularity in the country until Anderson Silva’s epic middleweight title reign. ‘The Spider’ took a lengthy time to become a genuine drawing card in the US, but that wasn’t the case in Brazil.

Silva’s performances against opponents like Rich Franklin, Dan Henderson and Belfort turned him into a mainstream superstar, netting him sponsorships from huge companies like Burger King and Nike.

So, when the UFC decided to return to Brazil in 2011, their first show there since 1998, it was hardly a surprise to see Silva in the main event, defending his title against Yushin Okami.

The show triggered somewhat of a boom period for the UFC in Brazil, as they returned to the country on multiple occasions over the next decade, usually to be met by raucous crowds and a seemingly never-ending series of new, exciting fighters.

Silva would only headline one more of the UFC’s Brazilian shows, UFC 153 in 2012, but it was his impact that largely re-opened the door for the promotion in the South American country. It also perhaps inspired the promotion to enter other neighboring countries like Argentina and Uruguay, too.

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#1. Georges St-Pierre – former UFC welterweight champion (Canada)

Georges St-Pierre became the UFC's first genuine Canadian superstar

It seems hard to believe now, but when Georges St-Pierre, a fresh-faced youngster who had just two wins in the UFC, was first matched with Matt Hughes in a fight for the vacant UFC welterweight title in 2004, Hughes scoffed at the idea of “losing to a Canadian in a fight.”

Hughes’ attitude essentially summed up the state of Canadian MMA at the time. While the TKO promotion was producing some solid shows in Canada, none of its fighters, with the exception of St-Pierre and David Loiseau, had really made an impact in the UFC. That quickly changed and, by and large, it was down to the success of GSP.

When he and Loiseau began to rise up the card in 2006, the UFC gimmicked an entire event, UFC 58, around a USA vs. Canada theme, bringing in a number of fighters from the TKO promotion to compete in the octagon. While Loiseau failed in his attempt to win the UFC middleweight title, GSP's rise continued all the way to his UFC welterweight title victory later that year.

By 2008, the UFC were so invested in St-Pierre that they booked their first show in Canada. 21,390 fans, a UFC attendance record at the time, packed into Montreal’s Bell Centre to see their hometown hero win his title back from Matt Serra.

GSP went on to headline four more UFC events in Canada, including UFC 129, which took place in Toronto’s Rogers Center and set another attendance record. Of course, his success paved the way for an entire generation of Canadian UFC stars, from Patrick Cote and Rory MacDonald to Elias Theodorou and Hakeem Dawodu.

Essentially, GSP remains the absolute definition of a fighter who opened a new market for the UFC to penetrate.