UFC Rumors: Who Will Buy Ultimate Fighting Championship?

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.

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.

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.

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]