Earlier this week, UFC president Dana White played down the ongoing rumours that an offer to purchase the UFC had been accepted by the promotion’s owners.
“Listen, everybody who works for me: Let this be the last thing you worry about,” White said during an interview on the podcast UFC Unfiltered.
But FloCombat, and managing editor Jeremy Botter who has remained at the forefront of the story, claim that the deal has since been completed.
According to the report, the UFC has officially been sold by parent company Zuffa LLC to the William Morris Endeavor-IMG agency.
The mixed martial arts promotion was purchased by brothers Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta for $2 million in 2000, with long-time friend Dana White being made president and holder of around 9% ownership.
There has been no confirmation from UFC officials about the deal with WME-IMG but it’s reported that the sale is worth in the region of $4 billion, a staggering profit for the Fertitta brothers.
It’s understood that the finalisation of the deal came on Sunday evening in Hollywood, during a meeting with officials from both the UFC and WME-IMG, including Lorenzo Fertitta and WME-IMG CEO Ari Emanuel, the powerful talent agent who inspired the character Ari Gold in the hit television series Entourage.
A sealed bidding process had been taking place for months, with the UFC represented by investment banking firm Goldman Sachs as potential buyers were able to make offers.
The successful investment group is also believed to include Tencent, a Chinese internet, entertainment and media agency; the Kraft Group, owners of sports franchises such as the New England Patriots and New England Revolution; and Dalian Wanda, a Chinese organisation believed to be the world’s biggest private property developer.
FloCombat indicate that, with the sale, the Fertittas will end their involvement with the company with possible replacements in their role being Ari Emanuel himself and former Manchester City CEO Garry Cook.
There were suggestions that Dana White would also cash in on his investment but, according to the most recent report, the new owners are keen to keep a hold of White in his capacity as the face of the promotion and will offer him a new ownership stake to persuade him to stay.
An announcement of the sale could take pace during international fight week, where there will be multiple press conferences leading up to the monster UFC 200 card, headlined by the UFC light heavyweight title unification bout between Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones.
