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But what makes this rumor closer to reality than any of the other ones?
The timing.
The past year has been huge for the UFC in terms of visibility and overall business. With Ronda Rousey and Conor McGregor doing much of the heavy lifting in terms of crossing over into the mainstream, the UFC gained a ton of exposure that was anchored by some exhilarating events.
According to Dave Meltzer’s reports from Wrestling Observer Newsletter, 2015 produced five pay-per-views that eclipsed 750k buys for the first time since 2010. It was a significant rebound from a porous 2014 where the most bought PPV was UFC 175: Weidman vs. Machida (545k). Perhaps more important was just how much the UFC began to permeate into the mainstream. Heading into 2016, the UFC had wrestled “the big event” feel from boxing and attracted more than diehard fans thanks to the emergence of Rousey and McGregor as bona fide stars (along with the well documented turmoil in Jon Jones’ life outside of the cage).
It felt like the UFC was being taken seriously for the first time. And if you combine that with the New York passing legislation to allow MMA in the state, as well as the Reebok deal (love it or hate it), the promotion’s Fox Networks deal and USADA drug testing, you have a sport that can be taken seriously courtesy of White & The Fertittas efforts to turn a company that was purchased for $2 million in 2001 and to potentially be sold between $3.5 and $4 billion.
That kind of rebound will be quite difficult to duplicate and it’s very possible that the UFC will not see a leap in exposure like this again. It can be argued that the UFC has peaked. But that’s been said quite a few times before only for the sport to find a way to have an even bigger year. But this is a little different considering the talent, quality of fights and timing with boxing struggling to resonate with the same significance after Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao stunk up the joint last year.
Any businessman with good sense will tell you that the point of the game is to build a company up and sell it for top dollar before it loses its value. And you can argue that there is no better time to sell The Ultimate Fighting Championship than now.
The work that White and the Fertitta Brothers have done over the past decade and a half has been remarkable, but also exhausting. How much bigger can the current regime make the UFC? Whatever the answer is, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are up for the challenge. Sometimes you have to know when to take the money you made and go home before the gamble bites you in your ass.
Maybe that time is now.
So the next question hovers around how the UFC would change if it were to be sold. Well, for one, the not-always-politically-correct presence of Dana White would either be dismissed or hushed to a certain degree if he remained in his position. Love him or hate him, he has been just as instrumental to the UFC’s growth as he has been polarizing. It can be argued that he’s been the biggest star the UFC has had. But once in another company’s hands, there would certainly be reigns placed on the UFC’s president to keep him in check. But who knows if Dana White would even fight to stay onboard. He’s earned the right to cash his minority stake out and drink expensive liquor out of a coconut on a small island for the rest of his life. As much as he loves the game, the behind-the-scenes business side of things can take a toll on the soul. As for the Fertittas, could this be their way into the NFL? Perhaps a sale of the UFC could find them in the mix to bring the Raiders to Las Vegas. Pure speculation, but isn’t that what this column is about?
As for the product itself, perhaps we’d see a difference in the presentation. But it doesn’t seem that the changes would be all that much from a cosmetic aspect. Perhaps some of the things behind the scenes would change such as media access and undisclosed fighter pay. Speaking of media access, this also could be a boon for developing stars. As it stands right now, the UFC hasn’t always done a great job assisting in the growth of an individual athlete. Everything that McGregor has done is more in spite of the UFC than in conjunction with the promotion. Rousey was a byproduct of perfect timing and the freshness of a female fighter who was seemingly invincible. But when you look at a fighter like Luke Rockhold, don’t you sit back and wonder why he isn’t on the cover of GQ and doing commercials for Sprite?
Could we be on the verge of a new regime taking over? Perhaps. But only time will tell whether we will see the UFC in new hands.
Andreas Hale is the editorial content director of 2DopeBoyz.com, co-host of the boxing, MMA and pro wrestling podcast “The Corner” and a regular columnist for Sherdog.com. You can follow on Twitter for his random yet educated thoughts on combat sports, music, film and popular culture.