UFC now worth $7 billion according to Dana White

The world of combat sports is becoming increasingly popular within the modern day sports landscape as the UFC is now worth an estimated $7 billion.

In a recent interview with Anthony Robbins, UFC president, Dana White, is adamant that there is still room for massive growth.

“We just did a TV deal with ESPN for $1.5 billion for five years and now the company is worth $7 billion,” White said.

“When you think about it, we haven’t even scratched the surface yet of how big this thing can be.”

“In September, we’re going into Moscow for the first time.”

“Korea is building this huge arena; we’re going into Korea.”

The recent announcement of MMA startup Kumite 1 League out of India and the new equity investment from MGM Television chief Mark Burnett, actor-entrepreneur Kevin Hart and Anthony Robbins into another MMA startup, Professional Fighters League (PPL), shows the sport is growing rapidly.

The Fertitta brothers sold the UFC a couple of years ago for $4.025 billion and White said in a recent interview that his company’s television deal that moves the UFC from FOX to ESPN in January 2019 has nearly doubled the fight promotion’s value.

“This ESPN deal is going to be massive for us, expose us to millions of people just here in the United States that haven’t been exposed to the UFC,” he said.

“We’re going to continue to go into markets we haven’t been, we’re going to continue to find the best talent in the world.”

White wanted the UFC to air on ESPN many years ago, but there was a time when he couldn’t even get a meeting with the sports media giant to discuss potential options.

Now, however, ESPN has shelled out big bucks to lure the UFC away from FOX and White believes the ESPN deal in the U.S. will help the UFC continue to expand globally and will elevate the promotion to new heights.