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Dana White experienced some re-shuffling yesterday with the news that the UFC, of which he serves as President and CEO, will be merged with the WWE to form a new sports-entertainment super company. That currently unnamed entity will be majority owned by Ari Emanuel’s Endeavor company, which bought the UFC back in 2016.
What does Dana White think about all this?
It seems Dana White, who was caught on camera slapping his wife earlier this year, is excited to be joining forces with Vince McMahon. McMahon will serve on the board of the new company. The longtime head of WWE temporarily stepped down from his role as CEO in 2022 after accusations of extramarital affairs, misconduct and hush money schemes.
In a statement shared by MMA Fighting, White said the UFC had “been on fire for the last seven years” before praising McMahon and their boss Emanuel.
“Vince is a savage in the wrestling space,” said White. “Ari is a beast at what he does, and then add what we at UFC bring to the table and there is no limit to what this company can accomplish in the next few years.”
The $21 billion dollar merger of the two companies has revealed that the UFC brings in about $1.1 billion in annual revenue. The WWE brings in $1.3 billion. In their statements on the merger Endeavor revealed the UFC is currently valued at around $12.1 billion, four times what they bought the company for from the Fertitta brothers six years ago.
Will Dana White pay fighters more now?
That remains to be seen. However, in 2022 (when the UFC had its most lucrative year in its history) fighter pay was lower than in 2021. According to Bloody Elbow‘s analysis UFC fighter pay has remained consistently between 15 and 17.5% of revenue since 2016.
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