The Philippines has long been the most-watched country in Asia, with a total audience of nearly 3.3 billion people.
But its top earners, including the UFC, are the Philippines’ most lucrative, with more than half a billion dollars (roughly $4.3bn) spent in the past year on live events.
Here’s what you need to know about these top-grossing sports in Asia.
Fight Club The Philippines is home to the UFC.
Its $12bn annual income from live events is a record, surpassing the $11bn spent by Brazil and the UK.
The Philippines also has one of the world’s biggest film and television productions companies, with $2.7bn in revenue last year.
The UFC’s biggest stars, however, are its Filipino fighters, many of whom make more than $100,000 a fight.
Fight club: the Philippines, 2014-2020 (1) UFC fighters: Carlos Condit, Ronda Rousey, Dominick Cruz, Josh Thomson, Nick Diaz, Donald Cerrone, Anthony Pettis, Nate Diaz, Rory MacDonald, Nate Marquardt, Tim Boetsch, Conor McGregor, Rashad Evans, Dustin Poirier, Dustin Penner, Raul Mendes, Michael Johnson, Ryan Bader, Joe Lauzon, Daniel Cormier, Johny Hendricks, Ryan LaVine, Benson Henderson, Daniel Kelly, Matt Mitrione, Matt Rothrock, Travis Browne, Anthony Johnson, Travis Alvear, Matt Serra, Eddie Alvarez, Nate Quarry, Mark Hunt, Rory McDonald, Rashid Magomedov, Robbie Lawler, Chad Mendes and Robbie Lawlor.
UFC: the top 25 biggest stars in the world, 2017-2020 source BBC Sport article The UFC has become a staple of Filipino culture, and it has its own distinct identity.
The sport has a very distinct history, starting as a boxing and muay thai fighting competition.
However, the sport has undergone a major transformation since its inception.
“Fighting is a sport that is all about the fighters, not just the boxers,” said Rodrigo Marquez, the UFC president.
“That’s why we need to grow it.
And we want to show the Filipino community how it’s done.”
Fighting is a very different sport to boxing and it was only in the early 2000s that boxing’s appeal spread to the Philippines.
It has since grown into a $5bn business, with fighters earning more than a million a year.
A fighter makes a lot of money from their fights, and the sport is also heavily influenced by Filipino culture.
According to Marquez: “The Filipino community is very much the core of this sport.
If you look at boxing, it’s very much based on the Filipino culture.”
The Philippines’ success with UFC has been aided by its high profile.
The Filipino community has supported the sport for years.
They are very close to the athletes and their families.
They’re also very much involved with the fighters.
“It’s very easy for us to be successful,” said Marquez.
“We’re always the first to show up, the last to leave.
That’s why it’s a great opportunity.”
The UFC Philippines website, which also includes a calendar of upcoming events, says that the country is currently second in the UFC rankings behind only China.
“For us, the Philippines has the highest potential to grow to become a truly global sports phenomenon,” Marquez added.
The country has also seen an influx of fighters from other countries.
The US, for example, has seen a surge in foreign fighters in recent years.
UFC fighters have also attracted huge paydays, as the sport’s stars earn an average of more than double the US average.
According a recent report by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, the average fighter in the Philippines earned about $1.2m (£818,000) in 2017.
However that figure does not include the many fighters who earn hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in endorsements, or from sponsorships.
It is a lucrative and lucrative industry, as UFC fighters are paid a record $12.4bn a year by sponsors including McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Visa and Pepsi.
“In the Philippines it’s about fighting, about being a champion, about making a name for yourself,” said UFC veteran Jose Aldo.
“They are very happy with the athletes.
They know they are helping them to grow.”
UFC Philippines, the company that oversees the sport in the country, said that the fighters have a long and healthy relationship with their sponsors.
“This is the first time we have seen this in a Filipino sport,” said Rhett A. Butler, UFC Philippines’ chief operating officer.
“A lot of people are expecting the fight world to change, but the Philippines is the best place to be right now.”
“If the UFC Philippines had a team of fighter coaches, we would be here to teach them how to be good athletes, and