How much did Zuffa purchase the UFC for?
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Dana White
Over the years, the UFC has established itself as the leading MMA promotion in the world. It puts up big pay-per-view events and numerous fight nights not only in American arenas, but across the globe. With a large pool of fighters contracted to the promotion, the UFC leaves no stone unturned in providing fans with great combat experience.
Despite the immense success of the company today, fans would probably be surprised to know that the UFC was failing at a time, and was later bought by a company which saved it from failing.
The company in question, is Zuffa LLC, which bought the UFC for $2 million dollars in 2001. Zuffa is owned by the Fertitta brothers (namely, Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta). The Fertitta brothers along with UFC President Dana White transformed the promotion into a global brand which has made its presence around the globe.
When the UFC was bought by Zuffa in 2001, MMA was considered a gladiator sport, which was watched only by a “niche group”. Both Zuffa, and the brass of the UFC have worked relentlessly to ensure the UFC is loved by new fans. Fighters like Anderson Silva and Conor McGregor probably wouldn’t have shone if they didn’t have the backing of the promotion.
Now, the UFC is a megalodon among other sporting companies. As per SI, the company reported a revenue of $1 billion through the first quarter of 2022.
The Endeavour group holdings currently owns the UFC
After achieving global success, the UFC was sold to Endeavor Group of Holdings in 2016. The news of its sale spread like wildfire, and Dana White, who was reinstated as the company president, was invited to talk shows to speak about the sale, and his own profit from it.
Speaking to Jimmy Kimmel, White said, “I got a couple bucks!” Dana White owned 10% of shares in the company, of which he sold 1% to Abu Dhabi and cashed out a humongous $360 million.
Back in 2016, the Endeavor Group had only acquired 50.1% of the UFC from Zuffa, which still resulted in the massive payouts. Last year, the Endeavor group went all in and purchased 100% shares in the company. Under Endeavor, the company has only grown, with Dana White publicly valuing the company at around $9-10 billion.
Dana White tells Aaron Bronsteter that the UFC is probably worth $9B or $10B. #UFC
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) December 11, 2020
The potential for the sport to grow under the financial ability of the Endeavor group is unparalleled. As opposed to other big named teams which are owned by massive consortiums, the UFC is a league in itself, and as such, regulates most of the competition. Rival MMA promotions like Bellator and PFL do well, but they do not belong in the same bracket as the UFC reach wise.
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Udayan Mukherjee
(382 Articles Published)