Dana (photo) denied that the sale will go through. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC
After promoting one of the biggest revolutions in the history of combat sports by buying the UFC on the verge of bankruptcy and transforming it into the biggest MMA event on the planet, Lorenzo Fertitta, Frank Fertitta and Dana White, partners at the company Zuffa, may be leaving Ultimate. The reason would be the arrival of a Chinese group, which would be willing to invest an exorbitant amount in the purchase, at the helm of the organization.
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According to a report on the website of the North American channel “ESPN”, four groups would be interested in acquiring Ultimate, they are: WME/IMG, China Media Capital, The Blackstone Group and Dalian Wanda Group. Among those mentioned, the Dalian Wanda Group would have made the biggest offer: between 3,5 and 4 billion dollars, somewhere between R$13 and R$15 billion.
The CEO of Dalian Wanda Group, described by the “Financial Times” newspaper as the “most aggressive profile in its acquisitions”, is billionaire Wang Jianlin, who has appeared in specialized magazine lists as the richest man in China. Recently, Wanda acquired a 20% stake in Spanish football club Atlético de Madrid.
Contrary to the news, and some of his co-workers who simply refused to comment on the possibility, UFC president Dana White rejected any chance of selling the biggest MMA event on the planet. “The UFC is not for sale. The ESPN story is exaggerated. Darren Rovell (author of the article) is not a fan of facts. His facts couldn’t be further from reality,” Dana said to the “Las Vegas Review-Journal.”
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