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Of Course TMZ Is Saying The UFC Is Not Being Sold

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This article is more than 7 years old.

I wasn't surprised at all to read that TMZ is saying the sale of UFC mixed martial arts promotion isn't happening any time soon.

The TMZ television show is broadcast on Fox . In fact the two recently inked a new deal until 2020. It's in Fox's best interest not to have any bad publicity for the UFC. As UFC president Dana White reportedly told an audience: “This has been one of the most disruptive things, imagine the fighters? I have 400 employees here. It’s been one of the most disruptive things ever in the history of the company. Last thing I’m going to do is fight so hard to get this (podcast) happening, and a lot of other things I’m working on right now, to bring in another regime or whatever would happen. Listen, everybody who works for me: Let this be the last thing you worry about.”

I also have been told by someone familiar with the negotiations that Fox, which has the broadcast rights to the UFC, is considering making an offer for the promotion.

I am not saying TMZ or Fox are doing anything unsavory. I doubt the $4 billion deal with the William Morris Endeavor group has been signed. But I also believe there have been serious discussions and offers made for the UFC. In 2014, the Blackstone Group waved $3 billion under the noses of Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta to no avail. And last year, there was a bid in the neighborhood of $2.8 billion by a group led by financing from Providence Equity Partners that was turned down by the Fertitta brothers.

The reporting on the sale of UFC--which has been in the news for months--has been based on anonymous sources (including yours truly). Different people with different agendas are saying different things to the media. The language on both sides has generally been parsed in such a way that regardless of what happens no one "lied."