In 2001, the UFC was sold to Frank Fertitta and Lorenzo Fertitta for $2 million dollars. Alongside Dana White, the Fertitta's turned the UFC into a multi-million dollar juggernaut.
Before selling to the Fertitta's, Shane McMahon was interested in buying the company.
"At the time, the UFC, they got in some financial problems, and came to us and said, 'Would you like to purchase the UFC?' I go, 'This is cool. Dad, let's go for this one.' I felt we could really grow that brand because it's tailor-made for what we do. We have a production team, we have a live events team, merchandising team. We have all of it just ready to go. To me, it was plug-and-play," said Shane on "Mr. McMahon."
Vince McMahon wasn't as interested.
"When it was presented in terms of buying UFC, I didn't like that business model. Our business model is you create characters, much like Disney or someone else, and we can use them forever as opposed to a boxer of UFC. Once you're beat, hurt or something, your career is over. We're in show business. That's a sport," said Vince.
"He thought about it and passed and passed on that opportunity, that was that," Shane said.
Asked if it would have been a good investment, Shane replied, "Hindsight is 20/20. It would've been an excellent investment."
The Fertitta's ended up selling the company to WME–IMG (Endeavor) in 2016 for $4 billion.
"Ten years later, UFC was sold for a lot of money. Shane, I think, wants to take credit for the idea of buying UFC. Shane really thought that's the way to go. If that's the way you think, 'Shane, take your money and put it in.' Which didn't work, it wouldn't work, cause it would take a huge investment and Shane only had a little, so that's not a good investment," said Vince.
In 2023, WWE and UFC merged under the Endeavor banner to form TKO.
All six episodes of "Mr. McMahon" are now streaming on Netflix.
Janel Grant, a former WWE employee, filed a lawsuit in January against Vince McMahon, WWE, and John Laurinaitis. The lawsuit accuses McMahon of sexual assault and sex trafficking. On May 30, Grant agreed to pause the lawsuit for six months while the federal investigation continued against McMahon, who resigned from TKO/WWE following the lawsuit being filed.
Victim Resources:
National Sexual Assault Hotline
Hours: Available 24 hours
1-800-656-4673
