The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) could have been sold for $5 billion if the promotion’s president Dana White is to be believed.
Back in July 2016, news broke that the UFC had been sold to WME-IMG for $4.2 billion. The figure opened up a lot of eyes and many were shocked to see the winning bid being as high as it was. With the announcement of the sale, Lorenzo Fertitta and Frank Fertitta III had officially walked away from the business.
White stayed on board as the UFC president, but the company saw some significant layoffs including the former voice of the UFC, Mike Goldberg.
During a recent interview with UFC’s Megan Olivi, White said there was another group that offered to buy the promotion for $5 billion. White said the UFC ultimately fell in the right hands (via MMA Weekly):
“When we did this deal, there were two groups that came in for more money than (WME-IMG co-CEO Ari Emanuel). There was one for $5 billion. One of the millions of things that I respect about the Fertittas, they weren’t just going to let this go for the money. They were gonna make sure that it went to somebody that could come in and take it to the next level.”
