Dana White, center, stands between Daniel Cormier, left, and Jon Jones during a UFC 200 mixed martial arts news conference, Wednesday, July 6, 2016, in Las Vegas. Cormier and Jones are scheduled to fight in a light heavyweight championship fight at UFC 200 on Saturday. AP
LOS ANGELES — UFC President Dana White says the mixed martial arts promotional company has been sold for approximately $4 billion to a group of investors led by Hollywood talent agency WME-IMG.
White confirmed the sale in text messages to The Associated Press on Sunday night.
White will stay on to run the UFC, which has grown from a money-losing promotional company in a minor sport into a global entertainment brand. UFC owners Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta kept only a minority interest in the company.
The Fertitta brothers and White purchased the promotion for $2 million in 2000, and the brothers’ casino fortune kept it afloat while MMA gained widespread acceptance and increasing popularity.
The New York Times first reported the completion of the long-rumored deal.