Zuffa
   HOME
*





Zuffa
Zuffa, LLC () 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. The word "Zuffa" is an Italian word (), meaning "fight". On July 11, 2016, Zuffa announced that it would be purchased by a group led by WME-IMG including Silver Lake Partners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and MSD Capital for the price of $4.025 billion. Relationship with MMA organizations International Fight League 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 and sued them for illegally using proprietary information obtained by hiring executives from the UFC organization. The IFL responded with their own suit claiming ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Ultimate Fighting Championship
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA promotion company in the world as of 2011. It produces events worldwide that showcase 12 weight divisions (eight men's and four women's) and abides by the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. , it had held over 600 events. Dana White has been its president since 2001. Under White's stewardship, it has grown into a global multi-billion-dollar enterprise. The UFC was founded by businessman Art Davie and Brazilian martial artist Rorion Gracie, and the first event was held in 1993 at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado. The purpose of the early Ultimate Fighting Championship competitions was to identify the most effective martial art in a contest with minimal rules and no weight classes between competitors of different fighting d ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


World Extreme Cagefighting
World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) was an American mixed martial arts, mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion founded in 2001. It was purchased by Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), in 2006. In its final incarnation, it was made up of 3 weight classes: , and . To accommodate the smaller fighters, WEC's cage was in diameter— smaller than the standard UFC cage. The smaller cage is now used by UFC for selected events. History Scott Adams and Reed Harris started the organization in 2001. Between 2001 and 2006, most of their events were held at Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, California, and aired on HDNet. In December 2006, Zuffa purchased WEC. With the purchase, WEC continued as a separate promotion with its own roster of fighters. Adams was retained after the purchase as the organization's matchmaker. Harris and Adams were named co-General Managers and were both active in the new WEC. In 2008, Sean She ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Mixed Martial Arts
Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. The first documented use of the term ''mixed martial arts'' was in a review of UFC 1 by television critic Howard Rosenberg in 1993. The question of who actually coined the term is subject to debate. During the early 20th century, various interstylistic contests took place throughout Japan and in the countries of the Four Asian Tigers. In Brazil, there was the sport of Vale Tudo, in which The Gracie family was known to promote Vale Tudo matches as a way to promote their own Brazilian jiu-jitsu style. A precursor to modern MMA was the 1976 Ali vs. Inoki exhibition bout (which ended in a draw after 15 rounds), fought between boxer Muhammad Ali and wrestler Antonio ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Pride Fighting Championships
PRIDE Fighting Championships (Pride or Pride FC, founded as KRS-Pride) was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion company. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997. Pride held more than sixty mixed martial arts events, broadcast to about 40 countries worldwide.What is Pride?
, Official Pride site. Last retrieved December 5, 2006
PRIDE was owned by the (DSE). For the ten years of its existence, PRIDE was one of the most popular MMA organizations in the world. Pride broadcast its event ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Strikeforce (mixed Martial Arts)
Strikeforce was an American mixed martial arts and kickboxing organization based in San Jose, California which operated from 1985 to 2013. It was headed by CEO Scott Coker. Its live events and competitions have been shown on CBS, debuting on November 7, 2009, and Showtime in the United States. Internationally, Strikeforce events have been broadcast Super Channel in Canada, Primetime in the United Kingdom, SKY PerfecTV! in Japan, HBO Plus in Brazil, Space in Latin America and the Caribbean, and on the American Forces Network. In early 2011, Strikeforce was purchased by American Ultimate Fighting Championship owner Zuffa LLC, which eventually closed the promotion and brought the remaining fighter contracts into the UFC roster. History Founded as a kickboxing organization, Strikeforce later expanded into mixed martial arts. Its first MMA event, '' Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Gracie'', was held on March 10, 2006, at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. The event was Californi ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Lorenzo Fertitta
Lorenzo Joseph Fertitta (born January 3, 1969) is an American businessman and philanthropist. He is chairman of Fertitta Capital, director of Red Rock Resorts Inc, and former CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Early life and education Lorenzo and his older brother Frank Fertitta III were raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, after their father, Frank Fertitta Jr., moved there from Texas with his wife Victoria (née Broussard) in 1960. Fertitta Jr. became a dealer at the Stardust Casino before graduating to management positions at the Tropicana, Sahara and Circus Circus casinos. In 1976, after observing that no casinos effectively catered to the city's residents, Fertitta Jr. built The Casino, a 5,000-square-foot establishment on Sahara Blvd. The Casino would be renamed Bingo Palace before it eventually became Palace Station. Fertitta Jr. worked at Station Casinos, a developer and casino operator in the U.S, alongside his sons until retiring in 1993. Until his death in 2009, Fe ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Endeavor (company)
Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc. (formerly known as William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, WME or WME-IMG) is an American holding company for talent and media agencies with its primary offices in Beverly Hills, California, United States. The company was founded in April 2009 after the merger of the William Morris Agency and the original Endeavor Talent Agency. Endeavor represents artists in film, television, music, theater, digital media, and publishing. It also represents the NFL and NHL. Endeavor owns the Ultimate Fighting Championship. It is headed by CEO Ari Emanuel and executive chairman Patrick Whitesell. The group used to own film and television production company Endeavor Content, but sold a majority stake in that division to South Korean entertainment and retail company CJ ENM in January 2022, with the company subsequently being renamed to Fifth Season. History Beginnings The Endeavor Talent Agency launched in 1995. By 2009, it was one of the fastest-growing Hollywoo ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




International Fight League
The International Fight League was an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion billed as the world's first MMA league. It was founded on January 7, 2006, and closed on July 31, 2008.Zuffa Purchases IFL
Instead of the established norm for MMA events, where matchups are strictly one-on-one affairs, each IFL card was a showdown between two camps of at least three fighters, each fighter fighting one match against another in the opposing camps.


History

The IFL was founded January 7, 2006 by real- estate developer Kurt Otto and '' Wizard'' magazine founder ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Dana White
Dana Frederick White Jr. (born July 28, 1969) is an American businessman who serves as president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a global mixed martial arts organization. In August 2019, White's net worth was estimated at $500 million. Early life and education White was born in Manchester, Connecticut, to June and Dana White Sr., on July 28, 1969. He is an Irish American. White spent many of his early years residing in Ware, Massachusetts. White and his sister, Kelly, were raised by their mother and her family for the majority of their childhoods. White's mother was a nurse, and the family moved to Las Vegas when White was in third grade, as Vegas offered higher wages for nurses. White attended Bishop Gorman High School, where he first met Lorenzo Fertitta, although they did not become close friends until years later. White said he disliked school and "got kicked out of Gorman twice". Despite living in Nevada, the Whites returned to the East Coast in the summers, t ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Dream Stage Entertainment
Dream Stage Entertainment (DSE) was a Japanese company that promoted various wrestling and mixed martial arts events, most notably mixed martial arts Pride Fighting Championship and Hustle professional wrestling events. Company history Allegations of links to organized crime There was speculation in the Japanese press that DSE was a front for Yamaguchi-gumi, a notorious yakuza organization. On June 5, 2006, Fuji Television announced that they were terminating their television contract with DSE effective immediately due to a breach of contract. This left Pride and Hustle without a television outlet in Japan, and the lack of the substantial revenues from the deal threatens its sustainability. Furthermore, Fuji banned anyone connected with DSE on their programs. On June 12, 2006, SKY PerfecTV!, Japan's leading satellite broadcasting company, announced that they would continue to carry DSE programming, such as Pride and Hustle. Hustle, and the second round of the Pride Open Weight G ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


World Fighting Alliance
The World Fighting Alliance (WFA) was a mixed martial arts organization based in the United States. Owned and organized by mixed martial arts, MMA legend and trainer John Lewis (Promoter/Match Maker) and nightclub operator and "Club Rubber" promoter John Huntington (Producer) along with Lawyer Louis Palazzo (Investor), the WFA began promoting events after the Nevada State Athletic Commission began sanctioning mixed martial arts. The Las Vegas-based promotion, unlike its cross-town rival, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, featured a nightclub environment and a slogan of “Where the fight club meets the Night Club”. Its events featured several scantily-clad ring girls between rounds and go-go dancers between fights, and plenty of loud music, including guest performers like Ice-T. However, in an incident at ''Level 3'' which seriously harmed the promotion's reputation, credentialed photographers were ejected by venue security from their areas and were forced to move to where t ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




WEC 53
''WEC 53: Henderson vs. Pettis'' was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting that took place on December 16, 2010 at Jobing.com Arena in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona. The event was the first time that Zuffa has hosted an event in Arizona. This was the final WEC event, due to the merger with the UFC. Background This was the final WEC event before merging with the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2011. This event was unique in that the WEC and AMP Energy allowed fans to choose the location of the event. The fans were given 30 options and the finalists were Milwaukee, Nashville and Phoenix. During the live telecast of WEC 50, Phoenix was announced as the winner of the contest. Maciej Jewtuszko was expected to face Ricardo Lamas at this event. However, Jewtuszko had to withdraw as he suffered a broken hand during training. Jewtuszko was replaced by WEC newcomer Iuri Alcântara. This event was named Sherdog's 2010 Event of the Year. The event dr ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]