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Last week, the UFC’s parent company Endeavor (formerly known as WME-IMG) announced that it had reached an agreement to purchase stream technology company NeuLion for $250 million U.S. dollars. While most MMA fans likely haven’t heard of Neu…
Last week, the UFC’s parent company Endeavor (formerly known as WME-IMG) announced that it had reached an agreement to purchase stream technology company NeuLion for $250 million U.S. dollars. While most MMA fans likely haven’t heard of NeuLion before, they will soon. With the UFC’s seven-year deal with FOX set to expire at year’s end, […]
The post How Endeavor’s Purchase of NeuLion Could Affect The UFC appeared first on MMA News.
It’s now been well over a year since WME-IMG first bought the UFC for a staggering $4 billion, resulting in the Fertitta brothers stepping aside and Hollywood super-agent Ari Emanuel taking the reigns as the head honcho of the world’s largest mixed martial arts promotion. However, Emanuel has been surprisingly aloof since then, with UFC […]
The post Ari Emanuel: 10 Things You Should Know About The UFC’s Big Boss appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.
It’s now been well over a year since WME-IMG first bought the UFC for a staggering $4 billion, resulting in the Fertitta brothers stepping aside and Hollywood super-agent Ari Emanuel taking the reigns as the head honcho of the world’s largest mixed martial arts promotion.
However, Emanuel has been surprisingly aloof since then, with UFC president Dana White remaining the man in charge of the day-to-day running of the company and the main point of contact for the media.
Don’t be fooled into thinking that this means Emanuel is a shrinking violet though, as nothing could be further from the truth.
Like White, he is a bombastic, larger-than-life figure with a fascinating life story, and it’s his strategic vision that White now follows as they attempt to take the promotion, and indeed the sport, to new heights.
With that in mind, it’s high time we delved into Emanuel’s life to find out who he really is, what makes him tick, and what his plans are for the UFC’s future.
It’s almost impossible to have a conversation about Ari Emanuel without mentioning the fact that he was the inspiration for the unforgettable ‘Ari Gold’ character in the hit TV show, ‘Entourage.’
The story goes that the show’s creator Doug Ellin originally had another big-time Hollywood agent in mind as the inspiration for one of the characters in the show, until coming face-to-face with Emanuel (who was the show’s executive producer Mark Wahlberg’s agent at the time), leading to the realization that this in-your-face, fast-talking, foul-mouthed force of nature was the perfect blueprint for the role.
How like the real Emanuel is the version played by Jeremy Piven on the show though?
It depends on who you speak to, with some of those who know him claiming that it’s right on the money, while an ex-business partner claimed, “he can turn on Ari Gold when he needs to.”
Whatever the case, his association with the memorable TV show character has only been a positive for Emanuel’s career.
“[Emanuel] has made himself a larger-than-life figure in a town where everybody thinks they’re 50 feet tall,” Deadline Hollywood’s Dominic Patten once mused to ABC News.
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Throughout the three-week lull proceeding one of the busiest periods in MMA history surrounding UFC 205, the contract standoff between the UFC and former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre has perhaps been the most discussed topic. St-Pierre revealed he considered himself a free agent after the UFC failed to give him a realistic fight in a timeframe
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Throughout the three-week lull proceeding one of the busiest periods in MMA history surrounding UFC 205, the contract standoff between the UFC and former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre has perhaps been the most discussed topic.
St-Pierre revealed he considered himself a free agent after the UFC failed to give him a realistic fight in a timeframe set forth by his lawyer. While the UFC predictably asserted St-Pierre was under contract and that they would hold him to his obligations, it’s simply a sad state of affairs that the situation has been allowed to reach this level.
Tempers were apparently calmed during a recent meeting between new UFC headman Ari Emanuel and St-Pierre, and “Rush” also released a video declaring that his relationship with Dana White had “never been better.” But that still wasn’t enough to get him in the main event slot of UFC 206, a card from Toronto in his native Canada that fans are threatening to boycott if he was not signed.
It’s looking like they’ll have to boycott, as St-Pierre said the fight, which was rumored to be against Michael Bisping, just isn’t happening as of now. With its Daniel Cormier vs. Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson rematch in the main event and a lackluster undercard, UFC 206 is set to struggle in the UFC’s return to Toronto as it’s sandwiched in between UFC 205 and UFC 207, where Ronda Rousey will return, but this could have easily been avoided.
There are whispers that St-Pierre’s management company CAA and their status as UFC owners WME-IMG’s direct competition in in the talent industry is directly interfering with any deal St-Pierre may sign, and there are other rumors GSP wants $10 million for his return fight that the new ownership isn’t willing to pay. Regardless of the reasoning, however, this is a situation that could have been avoided to make UFC 206 a truly special event – and a massive PPV success.
Instead, it’s just another bad look for the UFC’s new owners, who have stayed stalwart in their plan to cut overhead by releasing employees and playing hardball with St-Pierre in a time where fighter pay and treatment is one of the most hotly debated topics in the sport. The idea that the UFC would take a great financial risk and be forced to spend a large amount of money to re-introduce St-Pierre to a new fanbase is ludicrous, as is WME-IMG’s withdrawal of an offer St-Pierre had received from previous owner Lorenzo Fertitta.
True, St-Pierre may have been losing fans towards the end of his dominant run when he chose to fight safe and coast to dominant decision wins rather than finish his overmatched opponents, but he’s still one of the most popular fighters the Octagon has ever hosted. He may not bring in the million-plus buys that Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey do, but he can bring in more buys than nearly every other MMA star can.
He’s also the key to a currently struggling Canadian market in MMA, where he ruled for many years as the sport boom North of the Border. His presence would have instantly reinserted a ton of interest and attention into the fight-crazed Canadian MMA market, which has undoubtedly fallen into a funk since he left. Now, however, in an effort to save a few millions off the bottom line, the UFC is content to let UFC 206 fall by the wayside as a wholly forgettable event in a sea of high-profile cards.
It’s purely a business decision, but this decision is not best for business. Maybe St-Pierre is playing hardball; it cannot be denied he’s simply the most high-profile name to speak up for fighters being treated fairly. That’s something that needed to happen and was an eventuality rather than something the UFC could have held off forever. They did a good enough job doing that for several years as it stands.
He’ll most likely eventually reach middle ground with WME-IMG, yet UFC 206 could have been so, so much bigger. For a company that’s clearly about the bottom line, the decision to not back down to St-Pierre’s request is a puzzling one, and one that’s going to cost them millions of dollars in the short run.
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Former baseball agent Jeff Borris is attempting to lead the charge in the new Professional Fighters Association (PFA), and he’s started his campaign off by firing shots at UFC President Dana White and new owner Ari Emanuel. Borris held a press conference Thursday night, courtesy of MMA Fighting, on behalf of the PFA, a press conference that
The post PFA Chief Fires Shots At Dana White & New UFC Owner appeared first on LowKick MMA.
Former baseball agent Jeff Borris is attempting to lead the charge in the new Professional Fighters Association (PFA), and he’s started his campaign off by firing shots at UFC President Dana White and new owner Ari Emanuel.
Borris held a press conference Thursday night, courtesy of MMA Fighting, on behalf of the PFA, a press conference that he claims he invited White and Emanuel to attend.
Borris started off by calling White’s claims of never having heard of the new fighter’s union ‘disingenuous at best’. He also revealed that Emanuel hung up on him after calling the new UFC owner to invite him to the press event:
“He, in a tone only my wife speaks to me in, says ‘Don’t ever call me again. I don’t want to speak to you. I don’t want to have anything to do with you,’” Borris said.
Shortly after Borris claimed he texted Emanuel the following:
“I think that’s unprofessional. I’ll let you get away with that now. But once we become a union and we’re certified by the National Labor Relations Board, you’re gonna have to take my phone call and you’re gonna be forced to.”
Borris is in Las Vegas this weekend to attempt to talk to fighters and explain to them how the union would work, but was asked to leave UFC 202 media day today after attempting to do just that:
“I’m finding out that I don’t need to educate the fighters,” Borris said. “The reason why I I don’t need to educate the fighters is because they’re already educated on the issues. When I talk to them, they know they need these things. They know they need these protections.”
The PFA’s objective, according to Borris, is to ‘take from the rich and give to the poor’ after claiming the UFC is ‘bullying’ their fighters and called it ’embarrassing’:
“The UFC is laughing at these fighters,” Borris said.
Borris proceeded to fire shots at the MMA Fighters Association (MMAFA), as they are currently involved in an antitrust lawsuit with the UFC:
“The MMAFA has had seven years, let’s see what we can do.
The system is lopsided, grossly unfair and at the whim of the UFC,” Borris said.
You can watch the full Professional Fighters Association (PFA) press conference here:
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With the announced acquisition of the Ultimate Fighting Championship by the William Morris Endeavour – International Management Group, WME-IMG, and speculation has run rampant. The larger than life personality to meet Dana White at the helm of the UFC will be none other than Ari Emanuel, the man often touted as the most powerful agent
The post Four Major Changes Coming From The UFC Sale appeared first on LowKick MMA.
With the announced acquisition of the Ultimate Fighting Championship by the William Morris Endeavour – International Management Group, WME-IMG, and speculation has run rampant. The larger than life personality to meet Dana White at the helm of the UFC will be none other than Ari Emanuel, the man often touted as the most powerful agent in Hollywood, alongside his longtime partner Patrick Whitesell. The pair have long, storied backgrounds in media representation on all fronts and larger than life personalities to match, specifically Emanuel.
Given their insightful reputation surrounding media properties, experts were surprised by the UFC’s sale price not only for the amount but for the fact that it was agreed upon by Emanuel and Whitesell, which alone speaks to the validity of the UFC’s deemed worth.
With Dana White’s experience and strong visionary qualities that have helped the UFC reach the heights in which it resides today, fans are curious to see how the addition of Emanuel and Whitesell will shape the organization going forward. Visionaries in their own right, the WME-IMG pair have connected the dots on the biggest media properties for years in terms of music, movies and sports- even having a hand in the sale of the UFC’s TV rights prior to the purchase.
In this article, we take a look at four distinct ways the UFC is about change following the sale. Given the hefty purchase price, the resources available by the new owners and the potential for more funding from it’s new equity partners like Silver Lake, the UFC is about to scale drastically and we outline exactly how they’ll do it.
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With the UFC officially selling for a record setting $4 billion yesterday (July 11, 2016), many questions have arisen regarding the largest transaction in sports history. As for what specific changes will be implemented by new owners WME-IMG, the answer is currently unclear, although UFC President Dana White, who will remain in his role, recently
The post Dana White Reveals Plans Of New UFC Owners appeared first on LowKick MMA.
With the UFC officially selling for a record setting $4 billion yesterday (July 11, 2016), many questions have arisen regarding the largest transaction in sports history. As for what specific changes will be implemented by new owners WME-IMG, the answer is currently unclear, although UFC President Dana White, who will remain in his role, recently touched on the topic in a conversation with TMZ.com.
White continued to reiterate his idea that WME-IMG will take the UFC to the next level, and he claimed that the new owners will offer increased fighter pay, more sponsors, and increased opportunities for fighters outside of the cage:
“One of the things that we have always done since the day we have bought this company is we have taken this to the next level. I didn’t sleep too well last night. I was reading a lot of stuff and watching a lot of stuff, and obviously there was a lot of positive. But then there’s negative people out there, the naysayers, all this and that. Listen, this is gonna be massive,” White promised.
“Every year that we’ve owned this, fighter pay has gone up every year,” the UFC president continued. “I think that Ari (Emanuel), IMG, they’re gonna really bring in a lot more sponsors, there’s gonna be television and movie opportunities for these guys. Again, we’re just gonna continue to make this thing bigger globally and make this sport more popular. People can’t wrap their brains around the fact that we don’t even have scratched the surface of how big this sport’s gonna be. And Ari and his team get it, my team definitely gets it, and I’m ready.”
White once again confirmed that Emanuel, who is the head of the talent agency known as WME-IMG, will offer a plethora of different opportunities to hundreds of ‘talented’ fighters on the UFC:
“Absolutely. Listen, I come up with lots of content,” White said. “The library that I have from the past, the live fights, the ability to do all the different television shows, the talent that I have, I have 500 men and women under contract, talented people. Ari’s gonna help take that to the next level. I’m telling you guys. Look at these things that I said 15 years ago and listen to what I’m telling you today: Watch what happens in the next five years.”
What do you make of White’s latest comments?
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