Zuffa
 |
|
| Limited liability company | |
| Industry | Sports promotion |
| Founded | 2001 |
| Founders |
Frank Fertitta III Lorenzo Fertitta |
| Headquarters | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States |
|
Key people
|
Lorenzo Fertitta (Chairman & CEO) Dana White (President) |
| Owner | Frank Fertitta III (40.5%) Lorenzo Fertitta (40.5%) Flash Entertainment (10%) Dana White (9%) |
| Subsidiaries | None Former Subsidiaries:Ultimate Fighting Championship Defunct: World Fighting Alliance (2006) Pride Fighting Championships (2007) World Extreme Cagefighting (2010) Strikeforce (2013) |
Zuffa, LLC /ˈzuːfə/ is an American sports promotion company specializing in mixed martial arts. It was founded in January 2001 in Las Vegas, Nevada, by Station Casinos executives Frank Fertitta III and Lorenzo Fertitta to be the parent entity of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) after they purchased it from the Semaphore Entertainment Group. Lorenzo Fertitta is the company’s CEO and chairman while Dana White runs the day-to-day operations. Zuffa is co-owned by Fertitta brothers (40.5% each), Dana White (9%) and Flash Entertainment (10%). On July 11, 2016, Zuffa announced that it would be selling its majority stake in the UFC to WME-IMG for the price of $4 billion.
The word "Zuffa" is an Italian word (pronounced [ˈtsuffa]), meaning "fight".
Throughout the existence of the International Fight League (IFL) between 2006 and 2008, both Zuffa and the IFL had competed in a hostile relationship. Zuffa accused the IFL of and sued them for illegally using proprietary information obtained by hiring executives from the UFC organization. The IFL responded with their own suit claiming that Zuffa was threatening potential partners not to work with the IFL, including Fox Sports Net (a deal with Fox Sports was later signed before resolution of the suit). The tension between the IFL and the UFC worsened with accusations that the IFL had attempted to buy out several top UFC fighters.
In July 2008, there were reports of the IFL's possible purchase by the UFC. That same month, Joe Favorito, former IFL senior vice president, cited financial troubles for the closing of the company on July 31, 2008. Anonymous sources stated that Zuffa had bought the IFL. Other reports cited the UFC's airing of IFL footage on its programming, and the signing of previous IFL fighters, as an indirect confirmation of the purchase.
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