Many UFC fans tie President Dana White to ownership of the UFC, but he is not the owner. He has built up the UFC immensely over the years, but the title of ownership belongs to someone else.
Dana White became the president of the UFC in 2001 and developed the company into what it is today. He set the rules and got the UFC on television. He plays one of the biggest roles in the success of the UFC.
If he doesn’t own the UFC, then who does?
The owners of the UFC, for a while, were brothers Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta. They bought the company in 2001 and worked heavily with White to bring the UFC to what it is today. They invested a few million dollars into the company, and it turned out to be a major success. However, they sold the UFC to WME-IMG in 2016. In 2021, the company was taken over by Endeavour who currently owns it. Over the years, the company has had reality shows, live events and a plethora of talented fighters.
The company is still consistently growing and hit multiple high points in 2020. They broke their own records and earned roughly $900 million in revenue, despite the growing setbacks and difficulties the pandemic brought (via Anton Tabuena, SBNation).
Does Dana White own the UFC?
White does not own the UFC, and though he helped the company grow immensely, he never did. The company has seen a lot of growth under both new ownerships with WME-IMG and Endeavour.
“During the pandemic, we were up 30 percent on ESPN, then as soon as it starts to average out, we’re up 18, 20 percent this year. Our social media growth was massive this year. We surpassed 10 million followers on YouTube, earning us a diamond play status. Second only to NBA among sports organizations worldwide. Our Instagram growth in the US went up 31.17 percent. We’re number two only to the NBA again. Second most video views on Instagram compared to all US sports, number two to the NBA. And the Joaquin Buckley thing was massive, broke all kinds of records. We broke the record (for revenue). Consumer products was up 166 percent this year. The list goes on and on. We killed it this year,” White told SBNation.
The Fertitta brothers, White, WME-IMG, and Endeavour have made a massive impact on the UFC and have worked hard to turn it into the experience it is today. Their hard work has proven to continuously pay off.