MMA Knockout

TKO Releases Major Announcement Regarding Future of UFC, WWE Merger

The merger of the UFC and WWE is official, official.

Zain Bando

TKO Releases Major Announcement Regarding Future of UFC, WWE Merger
TKO Releases Major Announcement Regarding Future of UFC, WWE Merger /

Despite no UFC events for another week, TKO Group Holdings made the WWE-UFC merger official Thursday morning, kickstarting a new groundbreaking partnership.

According to TKO's press release, this news had been in the works for quite a while, and its timing, given what has been transpiring across the combat sports medium, was ideal.

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“Since Endeavor acquired UFC in 2016, UFC’s global partnerships business has become a significant growth area, and we believe WWE’s partnerships business has similar potential," TKO's Chief Financial Officer Andrew Schleimer said.

Schleimer credits both organizations for their global rise in popularity, making it a perfect fit, he said.

"Together, UFC and WWE create a sports marketing powerhouse, with hundreds of live events per year and a reach that’s equal to, or better than, the world’s biggest sports properties," Schleimer added. "The newly integrated global partnerships team will offer premium brands the opportunity to integrate and activate within UFC’s and WWE’s extraordinarily popular content to engage their massive fan bases around the world.”

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With the UFC's 300th pay-per-view event on the horizon and WWE's Money in the Bank in the summer, the merger represents two powerful entities near the top of the entertainment and sports umbrella, putting a stranglehold on their brands.

With Dana White's plan for further expansion, it is unknown how big the UFC could get, but with media rights deals at ESPN and exclusively on UFC Fight Pass, its potential becomes limitless.

The UFC pay-per-view schedule begins with UFC 297, taking place in Toronto, Canada, and headlined by Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis for the middleweight title on Jan. 20.

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Zain Bando
ZAIN BANDO

Zain Bando is a writer for MMA Knockout, part of the Sports Illustrated/Minute Media umbrella. He has covered combat sports since 2019 for notable outlets BJPenn.com and FanSided MMA. He also co-hosts a podcast called "The MMA Outsiders," part of the Empty The Bench Podcast Network, which airs Tuesday nights at 7:00 p.m. ET/4:00 p.m. PT. A Chicago suburban native, Bando has been enthralled with MMA since 2006 and has been fortunate to attend some of the most high-profile events in the sport's history, both as a fan and media member, including UFC 264, Bellator 297 and Kayla Harrison's PFL MMA debut. He is excited to take the next step in his combat sports writing journey and looks forward to continuing his following of the fight game for years to come. Bando can be reached via email at zainbando99@gmail.com or by social media @zainbando99

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