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Vince McMahon turned down buying the UFC at budget price for the most bizarre reason

Home> Wrestling> WWE

Published 14:03 25 Sep 2024 GMT+1

Vince McMahon turned down buying the UFC at budget price for the most bizarre reason

Dana White has made a small fortune from the UFC's boom over the past decade.

Matthew Holt

Matthew Holt

Vince McMahon has detailed the reason why he chose to turn down advances to buy MMA giant UFC.

Founded by businessman Art Davie and Brazilian martial artist Rorion Gracie back in 1993, the company has grown astronomically over the past decade.

Thanks in part to the key work of current president and CEO Dana White, MMA fans now flock to tune in via their popular pay-per-view events.

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Recent superstars Conor McGregor, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Jon Jones have helped matters, with their reach attracting millions of new fans around the world.

But a little-known fact is that WWE boss McMahon once had the opportunity to purchase the company in its infancy.

Vince's son, Shane, is thought to have approached his father with a request to buy the mixed martial arts promotion business in the early 2000s.

The UFC were entering into a tough financial position and Shane saw the opportunity to grow the business as a real stepping stone to impress his father.

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He had hoped to do so in order to prove that he himself could run the WWE one day upon Vince's retirement.

"At the time the UFC had gotten into some financial problems and came to us and said would you like to purchase the UFC," explained the now 54-year-old.

"I felt we could really grow that brand because it is tailor made to what we already to do.

"We had a production team, a live events team, a merchandise team, we have all of it just ready to go. For me it was just plug and play."

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Vince, however, didn't agree with his son's proposal, stating he felt there was more than meets the eye with the UFC.

"When it was presented to me about buying the UFC, I didn't like the business model," he explained in his new Netflix documentary.

"Our business model [at WWE] was that we created characters, like Disney or someone else. You can then use them forever.

"As opposed to a boxer or someone in the UFC, once you are boxed or beat, your career is over."

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It is safe to say the McMahons were guilty of a huge oversight here, given UFC's owners cashed the business for a sum of $4 billion back in May 2014.

Featured Image Credit: WWE/Getty

Topics: WWE, MMA, UFC, Dana White, Shane McMahon, Vince McMahon

Matthew Holt
Matthew Holt

Matthew is a Freelance Sports Journalist who also works for Manchester United, FourFourTwo and Reach PLC. He supports Scunthorpe United.

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@_mattyholt

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