In 2012, Chael Sonnen revealed an intriguing tidbit about WWE’s Vince McMahon and his brief interest in purchasing the UFC. According to Sonnen, McMahon considered bringing the octagon under his empire but ultimately decided against it.
Why? Because unlike the WWE, where outcomes are pre-planned or scripted, and superstars are built through planned narratives, the unpredictability of UFC’s ‘real’ fights did not align with McMahon‘s vision. The UFC’s raw unfiltered nature may have been too wild for McMahon’s controlled, entertainment-driven approach, Sonnen revealed. This was a dealbreaker for the WWE mogul.
Sonnen dived deeper into this topic in the latest video posted on his YouTube channel. He said,
“Dana White made a brand promise way back in 2001, and his promise and Dana would not come off his promise, over here the best fight the best. Vince McMahon was interested in purchasing the UFC and Vince was at the table, escrow money in hand, his son Shane is shoving him and wants to do it. Vince comes in and says no and offers the reason why. You can not build a star if you can not control the outcome.”
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UFC was still growing into the global powerhouse it is today, back in 2012. It was an exciting sport with a dedicated fanbase, but not quite the juggernaut we see today. Sonnen pointed out how Dana White managed to build stars without the safety net of having scripted outcomes.
White takes risks every time he books a fight, letting the chips fall where they could. A great example? Earlier this year at the Sphere (Las Vegas), he paired one of the UFC’s biggest stars Sean O’Malley up against Merab Dvalishvili—an incredibly dangerous match. It turned out to be a huge success, as Dvalishvili won.
It’s this unpredictability and willingness to gamble that has set the UFC apart and helped it thrive. However, more recently, the UFC and WWE were acquired by the same company and merged into a single, publicly traded entity.
White on UFC’s merger with WWE
It’s been just over a year since the UFC and WWE joined forces under the TKO umbrella, and what a game-changer it’s been. Back in September 2023, the merger brought the two powerhouse organizations together as part of TKO Group Holdings, sparking fan excitement about potential crossovers.
While we haven’t seen much blending of action inside the Octagon or the wrestling ring, UFC stars like interim heavyweight champ Tom Aspinall have appeared at WWE events, including a spotlight moment during a show in Manchester.
Initially, UFC CEO White was skeptical, assuring that the two brands would remain distinct. However, the partnership has created unexpected synergies, particularly in sponsorship and production, including the first-ever WWE event hosted at the UFC Apex. Reflecting on the experience, White admitted, “It’s been a great experience… we’ve got a good working relationship now, which wasn’t the case before TKO.”
