After weeks of speculation and rumor, Zuffa LLC, founded by Dana White and Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, has reportedly accepted a $4.2 billion bid to sell the UFC. The trio originally purchased the UFC in 2001 for $2 million from the Semaphore Entertainment Group.
As of now, it is not known who White and the Fertitta brothers sold the UFC to. The leading group was made up of William Morris Endeavor-IMG, the Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda, The Kraft Group, and Chinese investment company Tencent Holdings Limited.
Lorenzo and Franker Fertitta, primary owners of Zuffa LLC, initially purchased the UFC back in 2001 for just $2 million. Before they managed to turn things around for the fledgling sport, they put over $40 million more into the company. They were on the verge of shutting it down when the first season of The Ultimate Fighter reality show caught fire in 2005 and turned mixed martial arts into the hottest new sport in the world. Flash forward to 2016 and the promotion is now making a reported $600 million in revenue.
UFC President Dana White is expected to maintain his role with the company. His current shares in Zuffa will be sold as part of the deal, but he will be granted new shares to stay on in his current promotion capacity.
