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Thread: UFC gets Bigger !!

  1. #1
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    UFC gets Bigger !!

    UFC eliminates another competitor. Story below:

    http://www.sportsnet.ca/mma/2011/03/...c_strikeforce/

  2. #2
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    Assimilated into the UFC Borg

    I'm curious to see what will happen with women in MMA now.
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  3. #3
    nothing will change really... strikeforce will still run as usual with scott coker at the head still... all contracts will be honored... paul daley will still have a job, and the women will keep going... at least thats what white is saying... all beef with m-1, showtime, daley and women mma wont be a big deal... white wont be dealing with these things... coker runs it all as he was before... all zuffa will do is help them grow from behind the scenes...

    no unification bouts, no co-promotions...

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    I just hope Zuffa doesn't move Strikeforce in the nu-metal direction that UFC has been going for some time. I hate that crap.

    Strikeforce seems like a sporting event when you watch it, UFC seems like WWE.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Syn7 View Post
    nothing will change really... strikeforce will still run as usual with scott coker at the head still... all contracts will be honored... paul daley will still have a job, and the women will keep going... at least thats what white is saying... all beef with m-1, showtime, daley and women mma wont be a big deal... white wont be dealing with these things... coker runs it all as he was before... all zuffa will do is help them grow from behind the scenes...

    no unification bouts, no co-promotions...
    From what i understand, that's how it will be for the next two years. After that, who knows.

  6. #6
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    Here's what Coker and White are saying...

    Always go to the source...
    Zuffa: Strikeforce-UFC bouts will happen if fans want
    05:02 PM
    By Sergio Non, USA TODAY

    Now that Zuffa owns both brands, Strikeforce fighters might face their Ultimate Fighting Championship counterparts, after all.

    "I wouldn't say no to anything," UFC President Dana White says. "What we want to do is put on the best fights the fans want to see. ... It's just a matter of when."


    From left: Dana White, president, Ultimate Fighting Championship; Scott Coker, Strikeforce CEO; Lorenzo Fertitta UFC co-owner

    Zuffa, parent company of UFC, on Saturday announced a deal to buy Strikeforce. White, UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta and Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker spoke to reporters on Monday about the deal. Excerpts from the conference call:

    Sergio Non, USA TODAY: Scott, I'm wondering, why do this deal now?

    Coker: As you know, this is a historical day for the sport of mixed martial arts. This is something that we thought long and hard about.

    SVSE (Silicon Valley Sports and Entertainment) have been great partners. I think that they wanted to get back to their hockey business and expansion sports business, which is their core business. So we had a long conversation and we decided to start looking at the different offers, and that's when we started talking to Lorenzo.

    I think that they had a really good time in this business. But like I said, they wanted to get back to their core business. I wanted to continue in the mixed martial arts industry. That's where the two linked up awhile back.

    Non: Dana, I know you said that for now, it's business as usual, but your past acquisitions were all folded into UFC. Is the long-term goal to eventually fold Strikeforce into UFC?

    White: No. Right now, what we're looking to do is run these Strikeforce shows on Showtime. Like I said in the interview, business as usual.

    Non: How about down the road, say, once the Showtime contract runs out?

    White: (chuckles) Who knows? Anything's possible, and I never would say never to anything. But right here, right now, Strikeforce will continue to run their shows on Showtime.

    Neil Davidson, Canadian Press: How many fighters are under contract to Strikeforce right now?

    Coker: I believe the number is around 140 contracts.

    Davidson: Dana, you basically own the dominant shows in North America. Is competition taking a hit here?

    White: There's always going to be competition. There's tons of shows that happen every weekend, all over the world. There's always going to be competition.

    What we're doing is, we continue to expand and grow the sport and grow this business. I've said it a million times and I'll say it a million more, we need more fighters. As we continue to do all the shows that we're doing here in the United States, we start pushing into new markets, we need more guys. We need more fighters.

    So this isn't a thing about competition. It's about growing the sport. It's a good day for the fans. Great day for the fans.

    Davidson: And what about the fighters?

    White: Great day for them too. All these guys that fight for Strikeforce now work for the biggest mixed martial arts organization in the world. Nothing wrong with that.

    Fertitta: It's really a positive for the fighters too. Working for a company like Zuffa, they're dealing with a company that has vast financial resources. So from the standpoint of them continuing on and their contracts being honored, it's good for them to be with a good, healthy company.

    Davidson: If I'm an elite fighter, do I have any other options than to fight for you?

    Fertitta: Sure. There's plenty of promoters all around. There's more promoters here in the U.S. and in Canada. Obviously in Europe and in Asia.

    Painting this picture that there's not options is just entirely untrue. There's literally thousands of promotions that go on all around the world, so there's plenty of options for everybody.

    Franklin McNeil, ESPN: Does this deal open the door for UFC to appear on Showtime or CBS in the near future?

    Fertitta: We're really in the early stages here, literally. We haven't had a chance to sit down and meet with the Showtime guys yet, as far as what the future holds. As we have right now, there's a contract in place where Strikeforce is going to deliver 16 fights to Showtime. If they want to do something beyond that, we'll sit down and talk.

    McNeil: But it's something you're interested in?

    Fertitta: We talk to different networks all the time, as you guys know. We've always had the ability under our contract with Viacom and Spike to do shows on network TV -- and on subscription, which Showtime and HBO fall into -- but so far we have not been able to do a deal with any of those networks that makes sense for us from a financial standpoint, from a business standpoint.

    We're certainly willing to sit down and continue to talk about that going forward, but as of yet, we haven't been able to figure that out.

    McNeil: I know Strikeforce is being operated as a separate entity, but will we see the Octagon now being used in Strikeforce?

    Fertitta: No, we'll continue to use the hexagon -- is that correct? -- that is currently there. The one change that we're going to implement as promoters of this show is going to be the unified rules that we use in the UFC.

    McNeil: Is it possible MMA fans could see a superfight with a guy like a (Strikeforce lightweight champion) Gilbert Melendez and a guy like (UFC lightweight champion) Frankie Edgar?

    White: I wouldn't count anything out. I wouldn't say no to anything. Listen, at the end of the day, what we want to do is put on the best fights the fans want to see. That's our job.

    Fertitta: If there's an interest and the fans want to see it, as Dana says, that's what we do.

    Dave Meltzer, Yahoo Sports: You just mentioned something about unified rules. Does that mean elbows on the ground are now going to be legal for Strikeforce shows?

    Fertitta: Correct.

    Meltzer: How long is the Showtime contract for?

    Fertitta: My understanding is it extends to 2014.

    Meltzer: Are you going to be having input into the announcers on the Strikeforce shows, or is that a Showtime decision?

    Fertitta: To make it real clear, Showtime controls the production, which includes the announcers; it includes how the show is broadcast; all those different things.

    I'm sure that we'll give our input, and whether or not they take our input and implement it or not is entirely up to them.

    Meltzer: Are there plans in the works of a lot more shows toward the latter part of this year, whether it's in foreign countries or a new deal or something like that that you're working on?

    White: It depends on how fast things keep expanding as we go into these different countries and work on different deals that we're working on. Who knows? Again, this thing is expanding. It's growing every day. We'll see what happens.

    Fertitta: We certainly don't have it figured out, but one of the things that Dana had alluded to, one of the things that we believe strongly, is that there is a lot more demand in Europe and in Asia, places like Australia, where we go there once a year or twice a year. We're not fulfilling what the demand is.

    The U.K. is a perfect example. Going to London one time a year, we're kind of shortchanging that market. To be able to have Strikeforce -- more fighters, more options -- we're working on the ability there to have a stronger presence in a meaningful way, up to eight, nine, 10 times a year.

    White: And working on ways -- you just talked about all those markets -- to cultivate those markets and get talent from there too.
    continued next post
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  7. #7
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    more

    continued from previous
    Joe Ferraro, Sportsnet.ca: There was talk of a Strikeforce event perhaps happening in Ontario or at least in Canada. Is that something you're hoping to do in the future, not just have events in Canada, but globally?

    Coker: Like everybody said earlier, we put this thing together in a relatively short fashion, and we still have a lot of planning to do.

    There was dialogue with an arena and a casino up there. But I think we'll continue having that dialogue.

    We'll probably have a gameplan and have something mapped out in the next couple of weeks, as far as where we go and what cities we're going to hit, and how often. Give us a couple of weeks and we'll have some type of announcement.

    Ferraro: Paul Daley doesn't appear happy with the deal with Strikeforce, but Josh Barnett -- another supposed Dana White enemy -- has come out and says he'd be more than willing to working with Dana White if he can continue fighting. What are your comments on some of these guys here?

    White: This is one of those weird situations where we go in and do this deal with Strikeforce, and (chuckles) there's a lot of people on that side of the fence that aren't big fans of mine. But we can still do business.

    Scott Coker's the guy who's going to be running the day to day and doing everything. They're never going to have to deal with me. So it's not a big deal.

    Any of the other guys, they can deal with Lorenzo. If you don't like me, it doesn't mean we can't do business. Me and Tito did business for years.

    Fertitta: I think at the end of the day, it's important for, obviously, everybody to stay professional in what they're doing. These guys are professional athletes. They have signed contracts.

    We're going to live up to our obligations and honor our obligations. I think it's important for them to live up (to) and honor their obligations as well.

    Brett Okamoto, ESPN.com: Do you think expectations (of Strikeforce-UFC fights) are going to be somewhat hard to manage? Fans immediately are going to be thinking, "Why aren't these guys fighting one another if Zuffa owns both?"

    White: I think it's exciting. I think that Scott's got some interesting stuff coming up. As time goes on, we'll see how everything shakes out. I just think there's going to be more interest in the fight. We'll see what happens.

    Fertitta: There's some unfinished business over at Strikeforce too. There's a lot of great match-ups coming up and some great shows that are on the calendar. Obviously we've got to see how that plays out over there.

    Beau Dure, USA TODAY: Whenever leagues in U.S. sports history, they face some sort of legal action. Are you worried at this point that you might control so much of the market that you might up open yourself up for possible suits?

    Fertitta: Obviously we wouldn't have done the transaction if we felt that we were. I think at the end of the day, as I mentioned before, there's literally thousands of promotions, thousands of options for fighters. It just so happens that with the groundwork that we've put in place over the last 10, 11 years, we happen to be the most successful.

    There's literally no barrier to entry. Anybody that wants to get into the business, they can go file for a promoter's license and put up some capital, go sign fighters and go get a television contract. There's plenty of options there too.

    It's a wide open market for anybody that wants to get involved.

    Mike Chiappetta, MMA Fighting: There was some disappointment about the April show and the heavyweight tournament fights not going down. Getting this deal with Zuffa done, did that affect the show at all in not being able to put it together? Was that a big factor in that happening?

    Coker: No. That was a decision that was made way before this thing was inked, so it had nothing to do with it. It had more to do with trying to find the right location for the heavyweight tournament and once we found Dallas as the venue, we notified the fighters and they were all OK with it.

    Bob Emanuel, Scripps-Howard News Service: Dana, what are your thoughts on the women's division now?

    White: The same as they were before. That's Scott's deal, not mine.

    Emanuel: With Strikeforce, with the heavyweight tournament and everything, now that Zuffa is involved, do you think there's a possibility of having the final of that on a pay-per-view type of event?

    White: Yeah. I think so.

    Jeff Wagenheim, SI.com: When Strikeforce has had one of their big, live events on Showtime, we often have seen UFC put some appealing taped fights on Spike that night. ... I'm wondering if fans are still going to get to see the old pay-per-view events on basic cable.

    White: Absolutely, yes. ... I won't counterprogram Scott's stuff anymore.

    Coker: Thank you.

    Fertitta: At the end of the day, everybody talks about counterprogramming, (but) Spike likes having UFC content on Saturday nights. We pull great numbers for them. We're delivering product that they want.

    Mike Straka, Fighting Words (HDNet): Does Scott have an equity stake in Zuffa now?

    Fertitta: He does not.

    Straka: Scott, do you consider this a positive development for you and for Strikeforce?

    Coker: When you think about the history of mixed martial arts and where it's come from and where it's gone, I'm really proud of the accomplishments that we have made over the last two years. Showtime's been great partners.

    But this is something that's going on now. It's real. I think the fans are going to get to see the fights, eventually, that they want to see. And I think that it's going to be good for mixed martial arts.

    Dave Deibert, Postmedia News: With the library that comes along with the purchase, how much closer does this put you guys (to) -- I don't know if it makes any difference or not, whether it's an On Demand channel -- some kind of Zuffa/UFC channel that's been bandied about for a little while?

    Fertitta: There's really nothing to report on that front. We do have a vast library. Tons of fights. Tons of content. We have distribution on VOD (Video on demand) on most of the major cable and satellite services.

    We're going to use the Strikeforce library as we have used the Pride library, obviously the UFC library, WEC library. Fans are going to be able to see the great fights that happened in Strikeforce.

    What happens down the road, I don't know. That's a very complicated long-term strategy that we're trying to put in place.

    White: And as technology continues to grow, our content is perfect for all this new technology. We have the largest mixed martial arts library in the world. We will continue to cut it up and create great programming with all the different brands that we own.

    Fertitta: We have nearly 4,000-plus fights in our library now with the addition of Strikeforce. A lot of good stuff in there.

    Rafa Hernandez, ElOctagano.com: Given that UFC recently has been a trailblazer in the Hispanic market in the U.S., is that something that Strikeforce might be interested in looking at soon?

    Coker: I would say absolutely. Just to be honest, when I look at the offices here and all their staff and the support and all the resources, I think we're going to be able to fast-track in a lot of different areas and really blow Strikeforce up with the resources that Zuffa will put behind it.

    I think going after the Hispanic community will definitely be something that could happen, especially because we have some Hispanic champions like Nick Diaz and Gilbert Melendez. So I think that could definitely happen.
    more next post
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    the last of it

    continued from previous
    Damon Martin, MMAWeekly.com: What are your thoughts on a fighters' union, with everything going on with the NFL and what we've seen in Wisconsin over the last couple of weeks?

    White: That's up to the fighters, if the fighters got together and wanted to do a fighters' union.

    The problem with that in the fight business is, this really isn't a team sport. I don't think you're going to see some of the guys who are making the big, big money wanting to kick some of their money down to these guys that might never make it or might never be.

    But that's isn't up to us. That's up to them.

    Martin: With the deals as they expire, even if someone re-signs with Strikeforce, will you look at those deals as far as exclusivity? A lot of Strikeforce deals allow their guys to fight in other organizations -- like Alistair Overeem can fight in K-1. Will you guys look at those contracts going forward?

    White: Like we've said a million times on this call, it's business as usual. ... That's Scott Coker's deal.

    Coker: Alistair Overeem's deal, and a lot of these other fighter deals, even though they're allowed to fight in Japan, we've always had booking priority and had to have approval. It wasn't just a free reign of a contract. That won't change.

    I don't know if there's going to be a K-1, but with Alistair and the other fighters, they've always had to have approval, regardless.

    Dann Stupp, MMAjunkie.com: We had heard another group or two may have been talking to Strikeforce about a purchase. Was this partly a defensive move?

    Fertitta: As we were doing this deal, I hadn't heard that they were talking to anybody else. That was kind of news to me when people were talking on the phone today. But no, it wasn't prompted by that, in any way.

    Stupp: When did your guys' first serious discussions start taking place?

    Fertitta: Some time in the mid-part of December, I think. Obviously we kind of went through the holidays and lost some time there, stayed in touch, and ended up getting the deal done last Friday.

    Stupp: Even before then, had you guys ever talked internally about purchasing Strikeforce, or did the right situation just pop up?

    Fertitta: It wasn't really a big subject over here at the UFC.

    As Dana said many times, these guys have built a great brand. It's a good-looking product on TV. We started thinking about it a little bit more and just thought that it just made sense to have Strikeforce in the family here.

    One of the things that Scott alluded to as well is that we have a tremendous amount of resources here. We have offices here in Vegas, Toronto, London, Beijing, and we've got distribution in nearly 150 countries and territories.

    Now the ability for Scott to be able to leverage all those resources, whether it be PR, new media, marketing, everything that we do here, we think will help accelerate the growth that Strikeforce was already on.

    Dave Meltzer, Yahoo Sports: Now of all sudden there's two (champions) in every weight class. How do you reconcile the idea of having world champions and not having it be like boxing, where fans don't know who the champions are and the championships themselves don't mean a whole hell of a lot?

    White: That hasn't changed from Saturday to today. Those guys were champions on Saturday; they are today.

    We said at the beginning of this call: Will these guys never face each other? No. Our job is to make sure the fans get the fights that they want to see. It's just a matter of when. We'll see what happens.
    Gene Ching
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  9. #9
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    Clever

    I don't currently follow any UFC fighter tweets. Does anyone here? Are they of interest?
    UFC Fighters To Get Bonuses for Tweeting
    2 hours ago by Stan Schroeder 5

    The Ultimate Fighting Championship, the world’s largest mixed martial arts (MMA) organization, is going to award fighters with monetary bonuses for using Twitter, the head of UFC announced at the UFC Fighter Summit in Las Vegas.

    UFC and Strikeforce (another MMA promotion company, owned by the UFC) have a unique plan on how to do that. Starting June 1, they will divide their fighters into four categories based on their Twitter follower count. Then, after every three months, three fighters from each category will get a $5,000 bonus based on how many followers they’ve gained, the biggest percentage of new followers gained and the most creative tweets, judged by UFC head Dana White.

    This is an interesting and innovative approach to social media, uncommon in mainstream sports, where players are often reprimanded for tweeting. The UFC’s approach allows the big stars who already have a large Twitter following have the same chance of getting a bonus as the up-and-comers.

    UFC fighters and the MMA community are very lively on Twitter. Feuds between fighters — common in the sport — are fueled by comments on Twitter, and tweets from fighters and trainers are often a source for news about upcoming fights.

    On the other hand, young, new fighters often earn a couple of thousand dollars per fight (and in MMA, every fight has the potential to cause injuries that could keep a fighter out of the octagon for weeks or months). Now fighters will also be able to use their wit and creativity to make a living.
    Gene Ching
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  10. #10
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    There's probably a better place to post this...

    It's just a rumor and I've already heard counter rumors.



    MAY 13, 2016
    UFC RUMORS: WHO WILL BUY ULTIMATE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP?
    JACK WINDHAM

    ESPN is reporting that Ultimate Fighting Championship, the largest mixed martial arts company in the world may be for sale. UFC president Dana White denies these reports, and head of public relations Dave Sholler has stated that, since they are a privately owned company, they do not talk publicly about their business dealings. This, of course, only serves to stir the pot. In the past, Dana White and UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertita have both said that, for the right price, the company could be for sale.

    In 2012, White and the Fertita brothers sold a ten percent stake of the company to Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates. Tahnoon, an avid MMA fan turned jiu-jitsu black belt, traveled to the U.S. in the 1990’s to study BJJ and went on to start the Abu Dhabi Combat Championships. ADCC invited famous elite level fighters to his palace to compete in grappling tournaments. Tahnoon’s investment also led to the UFC’s first and only fight card in the Arab world, the UFC 112. That pay-per-view was headlined by then Light-Heavyweight Champ Anderson Silva and Demian Maia.


    Dana White [Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images]

    According to reports, there are four potential buyers who might be paying up to $4 billion for UFC. The company was initially purchased in 2002 for $2 million and lost $40 million in its first year under the helm of Dana White, Lorenzo Fertita, and Frank Fertita.
    Two of the four companies are Chinese conglomerates with little to no history of doing business in the United States, the home base of the UFC. Additionally, the sport of modern mixed martial arts, although very popular in the western world, is not even a fledgling sport in China. The UFC has held one fight card in Macau, but that is not considered mainland China.

    China, where all television is overseen by the government, has not been able to educate its people on UFC enough to make it even a niche sport. Nor have its fighters from traditional martial arts like Kung Fu and Sanda/Sanshou progressed to be considered elite or competent enough to contend with fighters from the western world.


    Lorenzo Fertita [Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images]

    It seems that Dana White and the Fertita brothers themselves are not educated enough in the ways of Chinese business. White himself is likely far too brash an American for the tastes of the Chinese.
    Shane McMahon, son of WWE founder and CEO Vince McMahon, was trying to make inroads in China in 2010 when, after leaving the WWE, he tried to bring on-demand pay per view to China. Were it not for Shane McMahon returning to professional wrestling after a seven-year hiatus recently, White would be smart to bring McMahon in as a cultural liaison to China and potential buyers.

    It will be interesting to see if the UFC brand can survive under the ownership of anyone other than Dana White and the Fertita brothers. A foreign company that may not have the western business acumen to work with current partners such as Reebok and Fox Sports might not be able to make it work.


    Conor McGregor [Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images]

    Interestingly enough, Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has not been named as a potential buyer of UFC, even though he owns a small stake in the company already. If anyone can afford the promotion, it would be him.
    For now, this is all speculation. UFC’s heads are still denying any rumors. Until the rumored sale is finalized, Ultimate Fighting Championship will continue to be run by the trio of men who pulled MMA out of obscurity and turned it into a multi-billion dollar sports empire.

    [Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images]
    Gene Ching
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  11. #11
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    Did UFC sell?

    Hold the phone...Wanda?

    Sources: Two groups post bids in $4.1 billion range to buy UFC
    Jun 17, 2016
    Darren Rovell ESPN Senior Writer

    Bidding to buy the UFC is drawing closer to an end, sources told ESPN on Thursday.

    The two bidding groups -- WME-IMG in conjunction with Dalian Wanda Group, and China Media Capital -- had similar bids in the $4.1 billion range, sources said.

    Sources said that both bidding groups are still trying to completely finance the buyout, which would be for the entire company. Which company ultimately wins out might depend on the details of that financing. Sources say WME co-chair Ari Emanuel has been asking well-heeled investors to chip in between $25 million and $50 million.

    One of those investors that said yes, according to sources, was the Kraft Group, which owns the New England Patriots and the New England Revolution. A Kraft Group spokesman declined comment.

    The WME-IMG bid with Dalian is also said to include China's Tencent Holdings, one of the 10 largest internet companies in the world and ESPN's official digital partner in the region. State-backed investment firm China Media Capital has been bankrolling many projects, including a five-year broadcast-rights deal with China's top-tier soccer league worth $1.3 billion.

    Reached Thursday, UFC president Dana White said he had no comment.

    Last month, ESPN reported that the entire UFC organization was actively up for sale and that bids were in the $3.5 billion to $4 billion range.

    At the time, White denied that Zuffa, which bought the UFC for $2 million in 2001, was in an active bidding process.

    Sources say that although White denied details of the sale publicly, the UFC forced partners to sign more extensive confidentiality agreements after the leak.

    Zuffa, a company set up by brothers Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, owns about 80 percent of the venture, and Abu Dhabi's Flash Entertainment bought a 10 percent piece for an undisclosed sum in 2010. White, who is expected to be asked to stay in some capacity should a sale go through, also has a share.

    While the UFC has developed into quite a business, with a rights deal on the horizon that could very well double to more than $200 million a year beginning in 2019, the business is volatile. The UFC has kept its financial cards close to its vest, but Lorenzo Fertitta told CNN that the business grossed about $600 million last year.

    The UFC is undoubtedly coming off its best year thanks to the emergence of Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey, but the return of Rousey -- who is represented by WME-IMG -- is uncertain, and both fighters are facing the prospect of their second losses in as many bouts. With both out for UFC 200, the brand was forced to make a big move to ensure that the event had some shine. It worked with Brock Lesnar to set up his one-off return to the Octagon despite his WWE contract.

    Dalian Wanda has recently invested in more sports properties. Last year, it bought a 20 percent stake in soccer superpower Atletico Madrid for $48 million. In March, the company became a top-tier FIFA sponsor through 2030.
    Gene Ching
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  12. #12
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    aw bummer

    I copied the post above across two other threads. Now I gotta copy this one too.

    JUN 21, 2016 @ 03:17 PM 6,236 VIEWS The Little Black Book of Billionaire Secrets
    Despite Reports, Billionaire Fertitta Brothers' UFC Isn't Being Sold, Company Insists
    Noah Kirsch , CONTRIBUTOR
    I write about the 1% that sits on top of the world.

    Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.


    UFC owners, from left, Frank Fertitta III, Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta. (AP Photo/Eric Jamison)

    The Ultimate Fighting Championship isn’t going anywhere– at least not for now.

    Yesterday, the reported sale of the mixed martial arts promoter made waves across the MMA online community. The deal, reportedly led by two Chinese billionaire-helmed investment groups, was rumored to be worth $4.2 billion dollars.

    Those accounts now appear to be untrue.

    “[The] report indicating that the UFC has been sold is false. We’ve communicated that to our staff members via an internal memo,” a spokeswoman for the UFC told this reporter.

    Speculations about a potential deal have been circulating for months. In May, UFC President Dana White denied that the organization was in “advanced” talks to be purchased, telling the Las Vegas Review-Journal that “The UFC [was] not for sale.” At the time, the bidders involved in the negotiations were reported to be WME/IMG, The Blackstone Group, and two Chinese investors, billionaire Wang Jianlin’s Dalian Wanda Group and China Media Capital. Dalian Wanda, along with another Chinese conglomerate, Tencent Holdings (headed by billionaire Ma Huateng, known as Pony Ma) was said to lead Monday’s purported sale.

    The Ultimate Fighting Championship is wholly owned by Zuffa, a company founded by billionaire brothers Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta. The casino magnates purchased the UFC, then on the verge of bankruptcy, for $2 million in 2001. Since then, mixed martial arts has become one of the fastest growing sectors in professional sports, and the promoter’s fights are now broadcast to over 1 billion homes in 149 different countries.

    That growth has not come without a cost. As FORBES wrote last week, Zuffa holds $475 million in debt obligations, which both Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s have rated “non-investment grade”–otherwise known as junk bonds. Those liabilities prompted the initial speculation that Zuffa, which is principally owned by the Fertitta brothers, alongside minority stakeholders Dana White and Flash Entertainment, was willing to sell.

    For now, the UFC, which took in an estimated $600 million in 2015 revenue, is staying put. The rumors, however, are certain to persist.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
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  13. #13
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    It may have been only a rumor...

    ...but it elicited some discussion.

    ONE CEO doesn't think potential sale means a UFC expansion to China
    By Marc Raimondi  @marc_raimondi on Jun 25, 2016, 6:00p 23


    Suhaimi Abdullah/Getty Images

    Even if a Chinese company is involved in the prospective purchase of the UFC, it doesn't necessarily mean you'll be seeing more UFC events in China, according to ONE Championship CEO Victor Cui.

    Cui isn't sure a Chinese investment firm owning a piece of the UFC is an indication that the UFC will attempt to expand more in Asia, he told MMA Fighting in a recent interview.

    "For Chinese companies, why they're investing in other properties is because they're really excited about expanding outside of Asia," Cui said. "That's the goal. So they're buying properties so they can expand out of Asia. They're not buying anything to help their business in China. They don't care about that. They already have China. They don't need any help from foreign companies to dominate China."

    ESPN reported last week that there are two high bidders for the UFC with the price tag in the range of $4.1 billion. Both investment groups are said to have Chinese companies at the forefront.

    One is reportedly led by WME in conjunction with Chinese company Dalian Wanda. That group also has representation from Tencent Holdings, a large internet company and ESPN's digital partner in China, per ESPN.com. The other group is led by China Media Capital.

    FloCombat.com reported this week the group led by WME and Wanda was the high bidder and the UFC had accepted a bid of $4.2 billion. The UFC has denied that and sent an internal memo to employees that the report was inaccurate.

    Cui's ONE Championship, founded in 2011, is Asia's top MMA promotion. ONE has run three events in China, beginning in June 2015. It just announced another one for July 2 in Hefei, China, headlined by former featherweight champion Narantungalag Jadambaa taking on Eric Kelly.

    Expanding to China has been difficult for both the UFC and ONE. The UFC has only been able to run a show in Macau, which is governed separately from mainland China. ONE has also had planned events for China cancelled.

    Cui said the issue for ONE is that it is trying to run 20 events per year in China, not just one at a time.

    "We're still only 4 ½ years old," he said. "ONE is really young. UFC has had an office in Asia for 10 years or something like that. They've been here a lot longer than us and they've had an office in China for several years. For us, we're just going to continue to focus on what we're doing and what we're good at and delivering what I think is the essence of the values of martial arts to our fans."

    The UFC actually opened an Asian office in 2010 in Beijing. Most of the employees from that office moved to Singapore last year, though the Beijing office remains. Singapore is, coincidentally, the home base of ONE Championship.

    While China is a focus for ONE, it isn't the only focus. ONE's base is in Southeast Asia. The promotion holds shows in Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia at least twice per year. Recently, ONE has made inroads in places like Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia, too.

    "We're holding our events in multiple countries," Cui said. "It's not like I'm doing 20 events in Singapore. We're going to different countries, different governments, different religions, different cultures, different languages, different backgrounds, etc."

    The UFC has not had an event in Asia this year. Last year, the promotion visited Japan and made its debut in the Philippines and South Korea.

    Though there seems to be heavy Chinese company backing for groups attempting to purchase the UFC, Cui does not seem concerned that means the MMA leader will be elbowing into ONE's Asian turf. Things seem to be going well for his group anyway. ONE chairman Chatri Sityodtong said recently that ONE would have a valuation of $1 billion in 12 to 18 months.

    "I don't know what else [the UFC is] gonna change or how quickly they're going to be able to change it," Cui said. "I don't know what their plans are. I can only look at how we've grown and what we've done. I know we've got the best talent. We have all the top fighters in Asia. If you're an Asian top fighter in any martial art, you're already with ONE Championship. All the top athletes are locked down with us. We have fantastic sponsors and partners. That's what we're going to continue to focus on."
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
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  14. #14
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    sold!

    Investors Pay $4 Billion for Mixed-Martial Arts Group UFC
    President Dana White will stay on to run the mixed-martial-arts promotion


    Brock Lesnar punches Mark Hunt during the UFC event Saturday. On Monday, the mixed martial-arts organization said it was sold to a group led by Hollywood talent agency WME-IMG. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
    By ANNE STEELE
    Updated July 11, 2016 11:09 a.m. ET

    Mixed martial-arts organization UFC has been sold to a group led by Hollywood talent agency WME-IMG.

    A person familiar with the matter said the deal’s price tag is about $4 billion. The companies didn’t disclose the deal’s financial details.

    Lorenzo Fertitta, UFC’s chairman and chief executive, will step down, but he and Frank Fertitta III will both retain “a passive minority interest” in the organization, WME-IMG said. UFC President Dana White will remain in his role.

    The Fertitta brothers and Mr. White, a high-school friend, bought the martial-arts fighting operation for $2 million when it was struggling in 2001. UFC was founded in 1993 and has grown in popularity, particularly with millennials. It produces about 40 live events each year.

    Silver Lake, which owns WME/IMG, and KKR are joining as investors along with the investment firm of billionaire Michael Dell, founder of his eponymous computer company.

    UFC started as the Ultimate Fighting Championship, staging violent fights that were banned or unregulated in many areas.

    With Mr. White as the promotional face and Lorenzo Fertitta as its chairman, the Las Vegas-based UFC was kept afloat by the Fertittas’ casino fortune while the sport once labeled by John McCain as “human ****fighting” gradually gained widespread acceptance and popularity.

    The UFC used cable television and the internet to get its product in front of young fans, and they also sought legitimacy by welcoming regulation by athletic commissions. New York finally lifted its ban on MMA earlier this year, putting the sport in all 50 states.

    After helping Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz become stars who straddled the line between sports and entertainment, the promotion now boasts a stable of elite athletes with mainstream fame, including Conor McGregor, Brock Lesnar and Ronda Rousey, who is represented by WME.

    The UFC also recently began construction in Las Vegas on a 180,000-square-foot, campus-style corporate headquarters that also will house training and rehabilitation facilities for its fighters.

    The UFC appears regularly on Fox under its seven-year broadcast deal, which ends in 2018. The next contract is expected to be extraordinarily lucrative.

    On Saturday night, UFC staged its landmark UFC 200 show in its hometown. The event drew 18,202 fans to T-Mobile Arena and took in $10.8 million in ticket sales, both Nevada records for the company.

    —The Associated Press contributed to this article.
    Meet the new boss
    Same as the old boss
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
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  15. #15
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    This actually made the sports section today in the SF Chron

    I almost never see MMA in the sports section.

    Here's a good overview on the new bosses.

    Meet the new owners who paid $4 billion to buy the UFC
    The UFC has officially been sold to WME-IMG for a whopping $4 billion, but who are the people behind this mega-deal and who will be running the promotion now?
    By Damon Martin @DamonMartin
    Jul 11, 2016 at 5:20p ET

    It was announced on Monday that the Ultimate Fighting Championship had been sold for a whopping $4 billion to a group led by WME-IMG.

    UFC co-owners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta will be stepping away from the organization after the sale with UFC president Dana White still sticking around in the same role he currently holds within the promotion.

    There are still plenty of questions to ask about the future of the UFC now that there are new owners in place for the first time in 15 years, but who are the people behind the sale?

    Let's take a look at some of the key players that put together the funds to plop down $4 billion to buy the UFC.

    WME-IMG


    Ari Emanuel, Alibaba founder Jack Ma, and talent agent Patrick Whitesell
    ROBYN BECK

    William Morris Endeavor-International Marketing Group is a huge conglomerate that merged in 2013 after WME purchased IMG for a reported $2.4 billion price tag. WME already boasted an incredibly powerful slate of clients as a talent agency representing movies, television, music and more. Some of the clients represented by WME include Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Oprah Winfrey, Dwayne Johnson, Justin Timberlake, Drake and Rihanna.

    IMG is an international sports, events and talent management agency based out of New York. IMG hosts a number of big sporting events and also heads up the PBR -- Professional Bull Riders.

    Since merging, WME-IMG have worked on a ton of crossover promotions combining the talent agency's impressive roster of talent with events and sports programming.

    ARI EMANUEL and PATRICK WHITESELL


    Ari Emanuel
    Jason LaVeris

    One of the names you'll hear the most during this UFC sale is Ari Emanuel, who is the co-CEO behind WME-IMG.

    Emanuel is already well known within the UFC after helping to orchestrate the television deal that landed the promotion with FOX in 2011. He also had a hand in helping fighters like Jon Jones negotiate deals with brands such as Gatorade and Nike in the past.

    Emanuel is a veteran agent, who started his career with Creative Artists Agency (CAA) as well as ICM Partners before founding his own company called Endeavor. Eventually in 2009, Emanuel along with co-CEO Patrick Whitesell led an initiative to merge the company with the William Morris Agency to create one of the largest talent agencies in the world.

    Emanuel may best be known as the inspiration behind the character Ari Gold in the HBO series "Entourage". Famously the Ari Gold character was originally based on another agent, but after "Entourage" creator Doug Ellin met with Emanuel, he changed his mind about the creative process. Emanuel also made a push for Jeremy Piven to play the character when casting was being done for the show and he represents Mark Wahlberg, who the show was loosely based on when first created.

    Emanuel is also the brother of Rahm Emanuel, who is the current mayor of Chicago and former chief of staff to President Barack Obama.

    Patrick Whitesell is a former agent who worked with United Talent Agency and also served as the head of talent at Creative Artists Agency for six years. Whitesell eventually teamed up with Emanueal as a co-CEO after the merger between William Morris and Endeavor in 2009.


    Patrick Whitesell (L) and actor Jake Gyllenhaal
    Stefanie Keenan

    Whitesell's client list also includes a slew of "A" list celebrities including Ryan Reynolds, Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal.

    Both Emanuel and Whitesell are known for being fierce negotiators and extremely passionate when doing business for their clients. WME-IMG already represents former women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey.

    SILVER LAKE PARTNERS

    Silver Lake is a private equity firm with investments in technology and many technology based industries. Silver Lake has invested in companies such as Dell, Go Daddy, and of course WME-IMG. Silver Lake reportedly purchased a 31-percent stake in WME as part of their investment portfolio with the company.

    Silver Lake was a key partner in William Morris Endeavor merging and purchasing IMG in 2013 and remain financial partners with the agency now as well.

    The Silicon Valley based firm famously purchased a controlling stake in Skype for a reported $1.9 billion before selling it to Microsoft two years later for $8.5 billion.

    EGON DURBAN

    A third name to associate alongside Emanuel and Whitesell is Egon Durban, who is a managing partner and managing director at Silver Lake. He also sits on the board of directors for WME-IMG.

    If a major decision is being made at WME-IMG, Emanuel, Whitesell and Durban are the people making the call.

    Before joining Silver Lake, Durban worked at Morgan Stanley's investment banking division while heading up investment opportunities in the technology industry.

    KKR - KOHLBERG KRAVIS ROBERTS

    A strategic investor in the UFC purchase, KKR is a multinational private equity firm that specializes in leveraged buyouts. Founded in 1976 by Jerome Kohlberg, Henry Kravis and George Roberts, KKR has been a part of some massive purchases over the years including a buyout of RJR Nabisco.

    KKR has also made significant investments in industries such as health care, retail, energy and natural resources.

    MSD CAPITAL


    Michael S. Dell
    Drew Angerer

    The company responsible for the investments involving Michael S. Dell, who is best known as the creator behind Dell Inc and Dell computers.

    Dell is listed by Forbes as the 35st richest person in the world with a network around $19.8 billion.

    MSD Capital has teamed up with Silver Lake previous in a sale to purchase EMC, a company specializing in cloud computing, information security and data storage. They also teamed up to acquire Dell Computers, a company Michael Dell started with $1,000 when he was still a teenager 30 years ago.

    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

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