Since Dana White took over the helm of UFC, it has transitioned itself as one of the leading MMA promotions. However, over the years, several MMA promotions have emerged as competitors, like Bellator, ONE Championship, PFL, and more. While the UFC maintains a larger scale than its competitors, these rivals are now taking significant strides forward. That being said, PFL received a massive boost as they recently struck a $100 million deal with Saudi Arabia. This resulted in the UFC losing almost $800 million of its value in the stock market. Despite this, the UFC head honcho White remains quite optimistic about UFC’s future in the Middle East as per his comments during his appearance in ‘Piers Morgan Uncensored‘ a couple of days ago.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship is breaking its own records, as it made over $1 billion in revenue in 2022, displaying steady growth over the years. This confidence was apparent from White’s comments about the whole situation with Middle Eastern investment.
Dana White remains optimistic about Middle Eastern MMA investment
During his conversation on ‘Piers Morgan Uncensored’, the UFC head honcho revealed how Abu Dhabi was ahead of the curve in its precautions during COVID-19. That’s why the UFC and Dana White could conduct events there.
After this discussion, the famous journalist Piers Morgan inquired about White’s perspective on the Middle East’s growing interest and investment in sports. He also touched upon the $100 million investment but was positive. White replied:
“My relationship has been with Abu Dhabi in the UAE for years now. And if you look at what that royal family has done with that country over the last 50 years, it’s incredible. They were the first ones really to do it. They started getting involved in sports and saw the whole sports thing coming.”
The UFC has created a dominant presence in Middle Eastern MMA through its events and famed fighters. Thus, we can say that the promotion is ever-growing and recently hit a big milestone in the $21 billion UFC-WWE merger, resulting in TKO.
UFC-WWE’s TKO merger
Just a couple of days ago, NYSE displayed two giant belts outside their facility announcing a historic moment in combat sports promotion. It signified that the wrestling giant WWE and MMA giant UFC had merged under one umbrella, TKO.
As a part of this $21 billion merger, WWE will have 49% of the stakes whereas UFC will get the majority, 51% stakes. Whilst former WWE chairman Vince McMahon will work as the head of TKO, Dana White remains in charge of handling the UFC.
On one hand, MMA promotions like PFL are forging new connections through investments from the Middle East, while the UFC is making significant strides in uniting two of the world’s largest combat sports promotions. Consequently, fans are eagerly anticipating the future of the sport.
