The UFC has officially announced that it is selling a 10% stake of the company to Flash Entertainment, a live events company based in the United Arab Emirates.
Dana White discussed the deal on UFC.com. Copy+Paste:
Why did UFC do this deal?
Dana White: We view this as the perfect strategic partnership to help us grow this business and fast track our expansion into other parts of the world. There are a lot of guys over the last nine years that have tried to buy in, invest, get us to go public, and try to partner up with the UFC. We got in this thing because we love this sport, we love the UFC, and we have this vision to take this thing globally and turn it into the biggest sport in the world. And when I say that, I know people think I’m a lunatic, but it’s true, and it’s gonna happen. So this deal is a perfect strategic partnership. These guys are awesome strategic partners to help us reach that goal even faster.Were there any concerns about bringing another partner into the UFC fold?
DW: I didn’t feel that way at all. I don’t look at this as my baby and nobody else can touch it. The way I look at this thing is that the UFC is a brand, like Microsoft, McDonald’s or any of these other ones. I think that I’m gonna have a certain amount of time here and then my time will be done and I will have done my part. And then somebody else will carry it on after me. I don’t look at this like I’m gonna be here forever. A lot of people say ‘without Dana the UFC couldn’t do this or couldn’t do that.’ I think the UFC is bigger than that and bigger than one person, including me.
Read the full interview here.
It’s kind of hard to question Dana White and crew at this point. Heck, he was even right about UFC 108. We’re not sure how an Abu Dhabi-based company founded in 2008 has the “proven track record” (as they claim) to grow the UFC globally and achieve White’s vision, but if he thinks they can, then you’ve gotta trust his opinion at this point.