Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell will don an Ultimate Bet logo at the upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event in Montreal on April 18th. Liddell will square off inside the Octagon against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.
The Tokwiro-owned online poker site recently sponsored Martin “The Hitman” Kampmann at UFC’s first ever event held in Nashville, Tennessee on April 1st. Kampmann bore Ultimate Bet logos on his trunks and shirt as he won a judge’s decision over Carlos Condit. Tokwiro Chief Operating Officer (COO) Paul Leggett told Poker News Daily what makes the UFC a perfect fit for Ultimate Bet: “In our minds, online poker and the UFC have a lot in common. They each share a similar highly competitive spirit. Both MMA and poker have been around for a long time and recently, UFC and Texas Hold’em have also exploded in popularity. We look forward to a long marketing relationship.”
Anderson Silva squaring off against Thales Leites headlines the UFC 97 card. Other matches include Krzysztof Soszynski versus Brian Stann, Cheick Kongo versus Antoni Hardonk, Steve Cantwell versus Luiz Cane, Eliot Marshall versus Vinicius Magalhaes, Denis Kang versus Xavier Foupa-Pokam, Jason MacDonald versus Nate Quarry, and David Loiseau versus Ed Herman. The Bell Centre in Montreal will play host to the festivities, which get underway at 10:00pm ET and will unfold live on Pay Per View.
As part of its sponsorship of UFC 97, Ultimate Bet will receive not only a logo on Lidell’s in-ring attire, but also billboards and commercials at the venue. In addition, four other UFC fighters will don Ultimate Bet logos – Leites, Soszynski, Hardonk, and Marshall. All told, the CEREUS Network online poker site will receive a considerable amount of exposure. Leggett explained, “Personally, I am a huge fan of poker and the UFC, and I think I’m fairly typical of many poker fans who enjoy both sports. Our sponsorship of UFC is a great opportunity for us to showcase Ultimate Bet to an adult audience of sports fans. I can’t wait to see the UFC 97 event in Montreal on April 18th.”
Ultimate Bet was the official Canadian sponsor of World Wrestling Entertainment’s (WWE) WrestleMania XXV, which saw poker player Alex Cummings head to Houston. Cummings was the winner of an Ultimate Bet promotion that dished out two tickets to the marquee WWE event along with a variety of promotional items. He witnessed WWE legend Triple H retain his title against Randy Orton in WrestleMania’s featured match. Other highlights included The Undertaker defeating Shawn Michaels to retain his undefeated streak at WrestleMania (a healthy 17-0) and John Cena defeating both Edge and Big Show to become the new World Heavyweight Champion. The Ultimate Bet promotion was only open to Canadian members of the online poker community.
Leggett admires the marketing efforts of UFC, which has grown its product worldwide in recent years. He told Poker News Daily, “We are thoroughly impressed with the success of UFC’s marketing strategy, specifically how exciting they have made Mixed Martial Arts. We are working on many initiatives this year to make online poker at Ultimate Bet more compelling for our players than any of our competitors, and we are confident we will see similar success.” There had been rumors swirling last month that UFC may switch online poker sponsors from Full Tilt Poker.
The CEREUS Network includes Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker, which merged player bases last November. According to traffic ranking site PokerScout.com, CEREUS ranks as the seventh largest worldwide with a seven day running average of 2,400 real money ring game players. Its 24 hour peak is 3,273. CEREUS sites accept players from the United States. Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke and 11-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth serve as the main faces behind Ultimate Bet.