Opinion: A Seller’s Market

Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media. The rumor mill is churning again about Ultimate Fighting Championship parent company Zuffa putting the UFC up for sale. It seems to happen every so often, only to be shot down by Dana White. However, this time it appears that the discussion should be taken more seriously. But what makes this rumor closer to reality than any of the other ones? The timing. The past year has been huge for the UFC in terms of visibility and overall business. With Ronda Rousey and Conor McGregor doing much of the heavy lifting in terms of crossing over into the mainstream, the UFC gained a ton of exposure that was anchored by some exhilarating events. According to Dave Meltzer’s reports from Wrestling Observer Newsletter, 2015 produced five pay-per-views that eclipsed 750k buys for the first time since 2010. It was a significant rebound from a porous 2014 where the most bought PPV was UFC 175: Weidman vs. Machida (545k). Perhaps more important was just how much the UFC began to permeate into the mainstream. Heading into 2016, the UFC had wrestled “the big event” feel from boxing and attracted more than diehard fans thanks to the emergence of Rousey and McGregor as bona fide stars (along with the well documented turmoil in Jon Jones’ life outside of the cage). It felt like the UFC was being taken seriously for the first time. And if you combine that with the New York passing legislation to allow MMA in the state, as well as the Reebok deal (love it or hate it), the promotion’s Fox Networks deal and USADA drug testing, you have a sport that can be taken seriously courtesy of White & The Fertittas efforts to turn a company that was purchased for $2 million in 2001 and to …

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