[Gren]

I haven't been back to Germany in many years (I was born there and lived there) but hearing you bring up some of the problems sounds...familiar. I hadn't even thought about the announcer issue yet. Stefan Raab announce MMA? I don't know how well that would go over. I remember him primarily for his comedy and as far as I understand he's since branched out. Still, I doubt he has any knowledge of MMA and thus wouldn't be able to do a good job at clarifying what's happening in the cage. Rather, he'd just echo the exact feelings of the crowd which might not be a good thing.

And also, like you mentioned, I don't know how well the PPV format would work in Germany. The UFC must be seeking to fill a niche in Germany but I don't know if that's possible without a TV deal that televises shows for free. And even if so, how would that work? It goes against the very business model of the UFC. Unless I guess a station like Pro Sieben or RTL (does that even still exist?) shelled out shitloads of cash in order to ave the UFC on TV. I can't see that happening either because the UFC's success isn't exactly a sure thing in Germany.

The venue is probably the smallest issue. Even if the UFC didn't got to Koln, they could hold an event in any of the other large cities like Frankfurt, Hamburg, Bremen, Munich, etc. Then again, they'd have to find an arena that wasn't tied up with soccer at the time.