How Zuffa became a major player in MMA broadcasting

Image source: bleacherreport.com

Ask any fan of combat sports, and they’ll tell you that the premiere mixed martial arts league in the world is the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which is more popularly known as the UFC. The UFC is where the best fighters from other leagues come to fight.

Just how did the UFC come to be as big as it is today? Hardcore fight fans will tell you that it’s because of the fighters. But those in the television industry and those who’ve been following the biggest boxing matches in history will tell you that the fighters are only half of the equation. The promotion matters just as much.

Zuffa, LLC is the sports promotion company that lifted the UFC out of small countryside arenas, with drunk audiences, and several circus sideshow freaks as its featured fighters, into the MMA giant today. The key word was exposure. After the UFC got the likes of Vitor Belfort, Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture under its banner, it wasn’t long before the general public noticed the quality of fighters squaring off in the octagon.

Image source: examiner.com

From that point onwards, Zuffa owners, the Fertitta brothers, and Dana White signed television deal after television deal for a monopoly of the MMA broadcasting rights possible. After this, Zuffa bought out rival fighting promotions World Fighting Alliance, Pride Fighting Championships, World Extreme Cagefighting, Strikeforce and, Invicta FC. With these buyouts, Zuffa then began to recruit their top fighters and incorporate them into the UFC.

Today, the UFC is looking to expand further, this time into China. In order to do this, owners of Zuffa would need to sell a minute percentage of their ownership. The world and fight fans can look forward to even bigger things in the future, as Zuffa and the UFC take over mixed martial arts on a global scale.