UFC sold for $4 billion, papers signed Saturday

According to the Sports Director of KLAS-TV (CBS), Chris Maathuis, the sale of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was finalized on Saturday. WME-IMG, Silver Lake, KKR…

By: Nick Baldwin | 7 years ago
UFC sold for $4 billion, papers signed Saturday
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

According to the Sports Director of KLAS-TV (CBS), Chris Maathuis, the sale of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was finalized on Saturday. WME-IMG, Silver Lake, KKR and MSD capital purchased the mixed martial arts organization for $4 billion. The New York Times followed up with a report of their own. An official announcement from the UFC is expected for Monday morning.

Dana White will remain with the organization as its president, but his stake in the company will slightly decrease. Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta’s stake in the company will heavily decrease — they will only have a minority interest. According to TMZ Sports, Lorenzo will be stepping down as CEO. WME-IMG head Ari Emanuel will “wield a lot of power over the organization,” per TMZ Sports’ report. It hasn’t been confirmed at this time who will replace Lorenzo as the company’s CEO.

In May, ESPN initially reported the UFC was in ‘advanced talks’ regarding a potential sale. FloCombat.com reported last month a bid of $4.2 billion from WME-IMG, the Dailan Wanda Group, The Kraft Group, and Tencent Holdings was accepted. UFC officials, including White, denied the report.

Here’s a comment from White on the sale:

The sale comes directly after UFC 200, a landmark event that took place from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday.

BloodyElbow.com will keep you up to date on the UFC sale as the story develops.

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