Sports and Hollywood celebrities become UFC members

Stallone, Affleck and Sharapova are among the UFC's partners. Photo: SUPER FIGHTS Production (DISCLOSURE)

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The UFC has definitely found favor with the biggest celebrities on the planet. In total, 23 sports and entertainment stars acquired shares in the company and are the new minority shareholders of the main fight organization on the planet.

The list was published by the North American newspaper “The Wall Street Journal”. Among the buyers are actors Ben Affleck and Sylvester Stallone, singer Adam Levine (lead singer of Maroon 5), tennis sisters Venus and Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Tom Brady (American football player and husband of model Gisele Bundchen), in addition to television presenters Jimmy Kimmel and Conan O'Brien.

In July, UFC was acquired by the WME-IMG group, which operates in the sports and entertainment sectors. After the negotiations ended, the company gave its athletes and artists the opportunity to invest in purchasing UFC shares. However, it was not disclosed what investment each celebrity made in the business.

Previously, Ultimate belonged to the Zuffa group, owned by brothers Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, Dana White and Arab investors. The sale to WME-IMG, estimated at US$4 billion, was until then the largest involving sports leagues in history.

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