Despite the ESPN report that the UFC was for sale, Dana White is denying the report that they are looking to sell the company.
Dana White told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the UFC is not for sale after a report from Darren Rovell released a report that Zuffa, LLC was in advanced talks with a prospective buyer. “The ESPN story is overblown. Darren Rovell is not a fan of facts. His facts could not be further off,” he told the paper.
Despite the denial, Rovell stands by his report which was released on Tuesday. He indicated that ownership enlisted Goldman Sachs to look into selling the UFC. Rovell notes that his sources claim that there are 4 potential buyers which are seeking to purchase the company.
Payout Perspective:
It’s not the first time that Rovell and White have gone back and forth. Obviously, since Zuffa, LLC/UFC maintains that since it is a private company it does not release its financials, the company’s information is not open to the public and media to review. In the past, Rovell has goaded White into producing numbers to back up his claims.
Will the UFC sell? It would make sense especially with the volatility of the business and the company is doing well financially. But, does the denial serve as a mere assurance to its contracted fighters and business partners that nothing is going to change. Or, are we going to see a sale in the coming months?
d says
Rovell also predicted Mayweather-Berto was going to hit 1.6m ppv buys. He was more than a million buys off. He is a boxing paid propagandist who likes to make headlines just like fan turned blogger Johnathan “don’t call me Edward” Snowden. These guys are boxing writers. This also isn’t anything new, Snowden reported this months ago, and it still hasn’t happened yet.
Let’s hear from anyone with some credibility whether or not this is actually true.
d says
“Dana to @dpshow: “The UFC is not for sale. … But we are working on a deal. There are confidentiality deals involved.””
-Ariel Helwani
Sounds like they are selling a piece of it again, just like they did with Flash.
mmaguru says
@d
That’s what i mentioned. No different than when Flash Entertainment bought a minority stake in the company, there is no doubt with Zuffa’s need to expand into the asian market, that they will make a deal to sell a portion of their company to get in.
d says
“As far as the UFC being for sale, I’ve said this a million times, we get offers on the UFC all the time. It started in 2010. We got our first offer for the company, which was over $1 billion and we turned it down.”
“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.”
“And listen, me and Fertitta brothers have been together a long time,” he observed. “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.”
Sounds like they aren’t selling it.
-Dana White, reported by mmafighting.com
d says
More bad news for boxing:
http://www.yardbarker.com/boxing/articles/bob_arum_manny_pacquiao_floyd_mayweather_rematch_not_going_to_happen/s1_127_20885812
Hahaha.
mmaguru says
My predictions are usually spot on for various reason. They are attempting to make a deal with an Asian entity to help get them a break into the market, this involves a minority stake in the company hence the valuation leaks. Where there is rumor, there is likely truth.
d says
@mmaguru,
Dude, come on, enough with all of this gloating, etc.
Your predictions are usually terrible and even if they were spot on, act like you’ve been right before. No one needs to hear you post on here how frequently you are right(even though you aren’t), non stop.
mmaguru says
check out my predictions. they are usually spot on. some vary to a degree, but most are correct.
mmaguru says
http://mmapayout.com/2016/01/ufc-195-attendance-gate-and-bonuses/
has my stated 2015 and 2016 predictions. Most of which have come to pass. thanks for watching.
mmaguru says
For those who are not aware of my advanced knowledge of the sport and why I am called the GURU, the following recaps predictions from 2015 and 2016
2015 Predictions
1. Zuffa sells UFC or Dana White is no longer running the organization – REPORTS INDICATE DEAL IS CLOSE FOR PARTIAL SALE
2. Boxing has 2 PPVs that eclipse 2 million buys – 1 PPV WITH 4.6 BUYS (PAQ/MAYWEATHER)
3. Cormier will defeat Jon Jones and defend his title 2 more times during the year – CORMIER BECAME LHW CHAMP AND DEFENDED HIS BELT
4. Fedor will fight at least 1 MMA fight – TRUE
5. Bellator will host an event at the Saitama Super Arena – FIGHTERS FROM BELLATOR FOUGHT FOR RISEN IN JAPAN
2016 Predictions
1. UFC will hold an event in New York at the MSG – TRUE
2. Risen Fighting will hold one more event in Japan, than fold – RISEN WILL LIKELY FOLD THIS YEAR
3. UFC signs second official sponsor company to help increase fighter pay – THIS HAS BEEN RUMORED AND WILL LIKELY BE TRUE IN 2016
4. a) Boxing does not post a PPV with over 1 million buys the – TRUE SO FAR
b) UFC posts its first ever 2 million buy rate – UFC 200 SHOULD HAVE, NOW LOOKING LIKE MSG PPV WILL
5. A MMA star hosts Saturday Night live – TRUE
No one has come close to my record on this site or any other site. Enjoy the knowledge I share.
mmaguru says
Extra predictions for 2016 I made in January to solidify my status as the guru
Honorable mention predictions:
Joanna Jedrzejczyk continues to go undefeated
Fedor does not sign with the UFC
Jones regains LHW strap but gives it up for a HW title shot
tops E says
D and ufc fanboys to DW: ” please dont leave us we have no place to go” hahahaha… they joined the movement of the pied piper hahahaha….now dw will cash out
tops E says
https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=pied+piper&tbm=isch&prmd=ivns&ei=m6MzV76lKIex0ASO86eoBQ&start=0&sa=N#mhpiv=10
d says
Tops self destructs every time he hears about the value or success of the UFC/MMA.
He must be imploding now after the false report about the sale. Hahahaha. Hair pulling out. Hahahaha.
tops E says
Count d response with this issue…per word….hahaha…huffing and puffing
d says
Tops on melt down mode….he just found out this was a false story and his moment of ecstasy has turned into complete agony. Hahahahaha.
jf says
@ MMAGURU
Reality check much?
2015 Predictions
1. Zuffa sells UFC or Dana White is no longer running the organization – WRONG
2. Boxing has 2 PPVs that eclipse 2 million buys – WRONG
3. Cormier will defeat Jon Jones – WRONG
4. Fedor will fight at least 1 MMA fight – TRUE
5. Bellator will host an event at the Saitama Super Arena – WRONG
2016 Predictions
1. UFC will hold an event in New York at the MSG – TRUE
2. Risen Fighting will hold one more event in Japan, than fold – WRONG
3. UFC signs second official sponsor company to help increase fighter pay – WRONG
4. a) Boxing does not post a PPV with over 1 million buys the – WE’LL SEE
b) UFC posts its first ever 2 million buy rate –WE’LL SEE
5. A MMA star hosts Saturday Night live – TRUE
d says
2015 Predictions
1. Zuffa sells UFC or Dana White is no longer running the organization – REPORTS INDICATE DEAL IS CLOSE FOR PARTIAL SALE
Zuffa did not sell the UFC. It looks like the same thing as the Flash deal which was also not a full sale. They’ve been here before.
“2. Boxing has 2 PPVs that eclipse 2 million buys – 1 PPV WITH 4.6 BUYS (PAQ/MAYWEATHER)”
This, again is not correct. There was 1 ppv that did over 2m buys. You like to grasp for straws.
“3. Cormier will defeat Jon Jones and defend his title 2 more times during the year – CORMIER BECAME LHW CHAMP AND DEFENDED HIS BELT”
He didn’t defeat Jon Jones. He actually lost to Jones and then Jones was stripped because he is a big dummy.
“5. Bellator will host an event at the Saitama Super Arena – FIGHTERS FROM BELLATOR FOUGHT FOR RISEN IN JAPAN”
Bellator did not host a fight there.
You had one correct prediction here for 2015. That’s it.
2016 Predictions
“2. Risen Fighting will hold one more event in Japan, than fold – RISEN WILL LIKELY FOLD THIS YEAR”
This did not happen.
“3. UFC signs second official sponsor company to help increase fighter pay – THIS HAS BEEN RUMORED AND WILL LIKELY BE TRUE IN 2016”
This did not happen.
“4. a) Boxing does not post a PPV with over 1 million buys the – TRUE SO FAR”
Would anyone be surprised if they didn’t?
“b) UFC posts its first ever 2 million buy rate – UFC 200 SHOULD HAVE, NOW LOOKING LIKE MSG PPV WILL”
This didn’t happen yet, but could at MSG.
“5. A MMA star hosts Saturday Night live – TRUE”
Of the 6 predictions here, only 2 have been proven true.
The only good prediction you’ve made out of the 13 was the SNL thing. The other two you were right about OUT OF 13, everyone saw coming.
Mmatruth says
Scorched
Combo says
“Arum: Pacquiao-Mayweather rematch not going to happen”
Hang in there, boxing fans.
The Greatest says
No one wants Mayweather-pacquiao II, so i don’t know what your point is.
Canelo-Khan being reported at 600k ppv buys so far
Combo says
You’re probably right, since “The Fight of the Century” was anything but, and turned off most viewers.
d says
“No one wants Mayweather-pacquiao II”
Mayweather and you did. That’s the only way boxing does a big ppv.
“Canelo-Khan being reported at 600k ppv buys so far”
Hahahahaha. The blockbuster boxing ppv of the year. Hahahaha. Boxing’s next big star!
I was wrong, the UFC is probably going to do 4x what boxing will in ppv revenue/buys.
Haha.
d says
Actually, I just read it did even worse:
“Rick Glaser, a longtime matchmaker and boxing personality, said on Facebook that Canelo-Khan sold 332,000 pay-per-views”
Peeeeeewwwwww!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! RIP boxing ppv.
http://www.badlefthook.com/2016/5/11/11661142/canelo-vs-khan-hbo-not-releasing-ppv-numbers-which-are-rumored-to-be
d says
The Khan-Canelo ppv doing that low of a number is very significant. It means the event either lost money or those fighters made very little more than their base purses which were 3.5m and 2m.
Either way, this was a catastrophe for boxing ppv. This was supposed to be a big fight, and failed miserably. It leads me to believe either one of these two big promoters is on their way out or fight payouts to boxers are going to drop significantly. It is hard to say which is the case, because we don’t know what these guys are getting after the fight, if anything at all, but either way, this was an overall big loss.
Despite what some of the fans on here would like to believe, the truth is boxing is at an all time low point. They just failed miserably on PBC losing hundreds of millions of hedge fund dollars that looks like it was a scheme from the get go to skim off of the top where the manager could be going to jail. This also failed a proof of concept phase on the networks and non pay cable for that matter. Now, their ppv is in a miserable state of disarray, where they have no stars that can sell a ppv on their own doing a little over 300k buys for what was supposed to be the fight of the year.
This is really bad because where do they draw revenue from domestically now? US/Canada ppv for boxing is obsolete. That is the biggest stream of revenue and what keeps the sport alive. It also helps draw viewers to their fights on the premium channels. The rights fees paid out by HBO/Showtime for their live cards, pale in comparison to one of their huge ppvs and now, their ratings are probably going to dip because of the lack of big fights. I sense a lot of boxers are going to be headed abroad where they can at least survive, but still won’t make the money a ufc ppv star will here.
I saw this coming a mile away. It is very difficult for boxing to create ppv stars. It takes years, and in the past, they had no competition. Now, with the UFC exploding into the mainstream and the 18-49 demo being more interested in mma, it is doubtful they will come anywhere near the numbers that Pac/Mayweather were doing consistently. Those were the only two ppv stars for boxing for nearly a decade. Now they are done and there is no one to pick up the torch. The same can’t be said for mma, because the UFC can sell with a number of fighters and they replace them relatively quickly. There have been so many fighters who have done ppvs that have exceeded 1m buys with the UFC. It isn’t even comparable between the two sports.
It is going to be very entertaining watching the boxing fanboys on here attempt to spin their numbers going forward.
Joey Garcia says
Nobody ever wants to catch a falling knife. Just sayin..
The Greatest says
Dan Rafael reported 600k ppvs.
Going to claim Darren Rovell is a paid boxing troll and then go around and tout Rick Glaser, a known fraud.
Rick Glaser is also the same guy who claimed 650k ppvs for Canelo-Cotto when it really did 900k.
So Ill take the 600k mark.
How could one believe that Canelo-Khan did Canelo-Angulo numbers. Be serious.
600k is still good for a fight that was somewhat of a mismatch. Did 2-3x the amount that Jon Jones did for his mismatch that was a bore.
Canelo-GGG 1M.
tops E says
Hahahahaha….d is crying hahahaha….looooong essays
tops E says
Boxing in rio olympics…recruit the anthony joshua’s,rigondeux,khan of the amateurs….plenty of future talents…..no need to look for a fight with dw hahahaha
turd says
ok bros lets set some things straight, i have been watching boxing since the 80’s
boxing is nowhere near what it used to be. aside from mayweather vs pac
there are no mega fights out there to be made.
canelo vs ggg may do 1 million buys- at this moment this is the only boxing match than can even sell.
you dumb ass fans boys that talk about fury vs klit that fight wont draw flyes to shit
in the u.s
the ufc will trounce boxing this year in ppv sales and tv viewer ship.
to show you how mch boxing has dropped over the years in viewer ship.
tyson vs holmes – 24 million viewers
foreman vs moorer- 17 million
boxing in the 80’s and up to late 90’s did good ticket sales and high ratings
on hbo and show time. now most boxing fights would lose money if hbo and showtime was not paying for them.
all haymon has blown through almost a half billion dollars.
i love boxing and watch old fights all the times greedy fighters and greedy promoters have fucked the sport.
d says
Tops is confused again. I guess this hasn’t sunk in yet that boxing’s fight of the year did less than routine ufc ppvs. Hahahaha. He’s still imploding from the news that the UFC isn’t being sold. Hahahaha.
The Greatest says
Its being reported at 600k ppv buys for Canelo-Khan.
Khan made $13M.
Scream for us d.
mmaguru says
@d thanks for the commentary and proving my predictive accuracy. We can’t be 100% correct, as Dana has said many times you have to be able to adjust to unforeseen circumstances, but by the nature of my predictions have been spot on. So far 2 of 3 in 2015 100% accurate, with the other 3 close enough. 2016, 2 already 100% accurate, with the others likely to be true. Yours, mma GURU!
mmaguru says
@jf,
How can you say a prediction is wrong when the year is not even over. My 2016 predictions will prove to be even more accurate than 2015. The truth, they are not really all predictions, some are predicated on source information. But thanks for acknowledging my predictive abilities. It comes with years of following the sport for probably longer than most have here. Like most predictions, there will always be variants, but I chose not to be vague.
mmaguru says
Just to recap for 2016
1. UFC will hold an event in New York at the MSG – TRUE
2. Rizin Fighting will hold one more event in Japan, than fold – Rizin has one more fight card scheduled for Apr 17, 2016. This card will be a failure and I will be pleasantly suprised if they hold another one under the Rizin banner.
3. UFC signs second official sponsor company to help increase fighter pay – The deal is in the works from my sources, but not yet finalized.
4. a) Boxing does not post a PPV with over 1 million buys the – This one is 100% assured even if Mayweather comes out of retirement
b) UFC posts its first ever 2 million buy rate – This prediction is the most difficult one now that Conor is out of UFC 200. Maybe the New York card has potential, but it depends on stars aligning – Conor and Ronda being on the card
5. A MMA star hosts Saturday Night live – TRUE
d says
“Its being reported at 600k ppv buys for Canelo-Khan.”
No it isn’t. It was reported by Golden Boy Promotions that the fight did under 600k buys and what De La Hoya is doing is either flat out lying or including his UK ppvs along with the total. This fight only did a little more than 300k ppv buys in US/Canada. It flat out bombed and was a miserable loss.
“Khan made $13M.”
Hahahahaha. No where near that money. He made a few million. This was a financial disaster.
This must be killing you. Hahahaha.
d says
@mmaguru,
Just accept the fact that you were not correct on the overwhelming majority of your predictions and move on. You have the info posted clear as day above which proves you were wrong. Your attempt to spin the truth isn’t convincing anyone. We can see what you wrote.
d says
“The deal is in the works from my sources, but not yet finalized.”
Hahahahahahahaha.
Your sources being an assumption you created.
The Greatest says
“d on May 12th, 2016 6:20 AM
“Its being reported at 600k ppv buys for Canelo-Khan.”
No it isn’t. It was reported by Golden Boy Promotions that the fight did under 600k buys and what De La Hoya is doing is either flat out lying or including his UK ppvs along with the total. This fight only did a little more than 300k ppv buys in US/Canada. It flat out bombed and was a miserable loss.
“Khan made $13M.”
–Yea Ill take the promotional company over some guy who is constantly wrong.
Hahahahaha. No where near that money. He made a few million. This was a financial disaster.
This must be killing you. Hahahaha.”
d says
“–Yea Ill take the promotional company over some guy who is constantly wrong.”
So you are taking Dana White’s numbers these days over your own?
Haha.
Fight Fan says
D is working overtime on the damage control lol
d says
“D is working overtime on the damage control lol”
Haha. Who needs the damage control? Boxing just laid a golden turd. Hahahahaha!
The Greatest says
600k
Breathe it in
fight fan says
http://www.latimes.com/sports/boxing/la-sp-sn-canelo-alvarez-amir-khan-pay-per-view-buys-20160512-story.html
D is in full blown denial mode as usual.
tops E says
D is everywhere these days hahahahahahaha…dw leaving him and other fanatics hahahahahaha….comment section is full of D….huffing and puffing….put some more long essays
d says
“600k
Breathe it in”
Even De La Hoya said it did UNDER 600k buys.
Breathe that in.
d says
Tops is self destructing, scrambling for answers. How did things go so badly and become completely reversed in a day for him? Hahahaha.
d says
http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2016/5/12/11666248/report-canelo-vs-khan-does-approximately-460000-buys-boxing-news
Hey Tops, how about this one?
Doesn’t seem like 600k.
Also, the gate was smaller than McGregor’s who is clearly the no. 1 draw in combat sports. Hahahahaha. Spin that.
The Greatest says
HBO is leaving it up to the promoters in 2016 to announce ppv numbers. So if GBP is saying about 600k. Ill take there word.
If its 460k, thats ok for what the fight was. They definitely got some good exposure for it being a devastating KO.
The Greatest says
Oscar called the 460k report as totally absurd. Said it did way more than that and will probably do a little over 600k when all numbers are tallied.
d says
“HBO is leaving it up to the promoters in 2016 to announce ppv numbers. ”
Because they are embarrassed with how low their ppvs are going to be this year and from here on out. They can’t even exaggerate like they used to.
“So if GBP is saying about 600k. Ill take there word.”
Because you are delusional and when the UFC releases a number, you always claim they are lying. You even claim Meltzer’s lying all the time- an unbiased source who has a proven track record of accurate ppv numbers from his pre corporate WWE days.
“If its 460k, thats ok for what the fight was.”
That is a disastrous number. This fight cost a lot of money to produce and they were expecting a big number- De La Hoya was expecting this to do Mayweather numbers. The event lost money. As did the last 3 boxing ppvs. At this rate, boxing ppv will be obsolete unless they find some serious star power soon.
“They definitely got some good exposure for it being a devastating KO.”
Not considering no one gave Khan much of a chance to begin with. He was a blown up ww.
“Oscar called the 460k report as totally absurd. Said it did way more than that and will probably do a little over 600k when all numbers are tallied.”
He is a lying promoter, like everyone else in the industry. He has everything to lose by announcing the actual, terrible number. We have multiple sources claiming this bombed royally.
The Greatest says
Fight did 600k ppvs and a $7.4M gate which is better than 98% of every UFC event ever.
The Greatest says
Multiple sources my a.s.s.s
You have the same sources who never get it right,
Had Lole said 1M you would’ve pouted that he was crazy
d says
“Multiple sources my a.s.s.s”
I cited two of them, which is double what you have provided and your source is the one who has everything to lose and is completely biased- the promoter.
“You have the same sources who never get it right,
Had Lole said 1M you would’ve pouted that he was crazy”
It’s the opposite though. He inflates the numbers and usually takes the promoter at their word. For him to say this, goes to show you this must have really under performed and there is substantial evidence to prove De La Hoya is lying.
d says
*Iole*
d says
Another black eye going on for boxing:
“Two sources with knowledge of test have told ESPN that Povetkin tested positive for meldonium with title fight vs Wilder a week away.”
Status of the Wilder-Povetkin fight is unclear at the moment after Povetkin’s positive test.”
What a mess. This fight is getting scrapped.
This comes right after another boxer, Lucas Browne failed a ped test.
d says
That was from Dan Rafael