UFC President Dana White Denies Company is for Sale: ‘We’re Working on Expanding’
While the
Ultimate Fighting Championship might consistently have
interested potential buyers, UFC President Dana White insists that
the company is not for sale.
"We're not up for sale," White said during an appearance on "The Dan Patrick Show” Wednesday. "We're always working on deals and our expansion globally. I've been saying since this thing came out, no, we're not for sale, but let me tell you what. If somebody shows up with $4 billion, we can talk. We can definitely talk.”
On Tuesday, ESPN.com reported that parent company Zuffa was in
"advanced talks” to sell the UFC. Chinese conglomerate Dalian
Wada Group was reportedly the leader among four potential buyers
for promotion; the UFC’s final valuation was expected to be between
$3.5 and $4 billion.
While White would not comment on a possible partial sale, he did say that growing the UFC was an ongoing process. He was not able to go into further detail regarding any such deals due to issues of confidentiality.
White said offers from interested purchasers for the UFC began approximately six years ago.
"As far as the UFC being for sale, I've said this a million times, we get offers on the UFC all the time,” he said. “It started in 2010. We got our first offer for the company, which was over $1 billion and we turned it down.”
If the promotion were to be sold, White is uncertain if he would remain with the UFC in his current role. However, White said he currently has no interest in parting ways with the company.
"I don't know. I don't know how that would all work out, but I'll tell you this: The day we decide to sell, I probably don't want to do this anymore. I love this. I love this business. I love the sport. I jump out of bed everyday excited to go to work,” White said.
"And listen, me and Fertitta brothers have been together a long time. We’re very close friends. We work well together. Something we did would be a mutual decision and we'd probably all be looking to get out.”
"We're not up for sale," White said during an appearance on "The Dan Patrick Show” Wednesday. "We're always working on deals and our expansion globally. I've been saying since this thing came out, no, we're not for sale, but let me tell you what. If somebody shows up with $4 billion, we can talk. We can definitely talk.”
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While White would not comment on a possible partial sale, he did say that growing the UFC was an ongoing process. He was not able to go into further detail regarding any such deals due to issues of confidentiality.
"Obviously, if I'm in the middle of a deal right now, there's a lot
of confidentiality involved in it," White said. "We're working on
expanding. We're working on growing the company and moving into
other territories like China and Japan, Korea. So, yeah, we're
always working on deals.”
White said offers from interested purchasers for the UFC began approximately six years ago.
"As far as the UFC being for sale, I've said this a million times, we get offers on the UFC all the time,” he said. “It started in 2010. We got our first offer for the company, which was over $1 billion and we turned it down.”
If the promotion were to be sold, White is uncertain if he would remain with the UFC in his current role. However, White said he currently has no interest in parting ways with the company.
"I don't know. I don't know how that would all work out, but I'll tell you this: The day we decide to sell, I probably don't want to do this anymore. I love this. I love this business. I love the sport. I jump out of bed everyday excited to go to work,” White said.
"And listen, me and Fertitta brothers have been together a long time. We’re very close friends. We work well together. Something we did would be a mutual decision and we'd probably all be looking to get out.”
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