While the sale of the Ultimate Fighting Championship to William Morris Endeavor and International Management Group (WME-IMG) last summer was the largest ever for a professional sports franchise, the reported $4.2 billion figure could have been even larger.
“I was never in this for the money ever. When we bought this thing we bought it for $2 million and then we were upside down and everything else. For me it’s always taking it to the next level,” UFC President Dana White said in an interview on UFC Fight Pass. “When we were doing this deal, there were two groups that came in for more money than Ari.