UFC for Sale? Report Says Talks to Sell In Advanced Stages

Maybe thinking they have reached their ceiling – reports say the owners of UFC are in talks to SELL the biz, and right now there’s four bidders interested, including none other than the richest man in China.

Here’s the report from ESPN:

The owners of the UFC are in advanced talks to sell the business, sources told ESPN.com.

At least four bidders are believed to have submitted bids for the organization, including WME/IMG, China Media Capital, The Blackstone Group and Dalian Wanda Group. The winning bid, should things proceed, is expected to be for a valuation between $3.5 billion and $4 billion, multiple sources with knowledge of the negotiations told ESPN.com.

UFC president Dana White said reports of the promotion being on the market are not true, telling the Las Vegas Review-Journal that “the UFC is not for sale.”

“As a private company, we don’t discuss speculation or rumors related to our business,” said Dave Sholler, vice president of public relations and athlete marketing for the UFC.

Where does Dana White fall into all of this? He could be on the outside looking in according to the report. While he’s got some stake in the company, it’s a very small stake, and he could be out of UFC.

The principal owners of UFC is Zuffa LLC, they own 80 percent of the company, and could look to cash out of their investment – they brought a huge stake in UFC for $2 million back in 2001 – and now could see it sell for up to $4 billion.

Not a bad payout.