Originally Posted by Brad Christy

VDRSNK,

Sort of. Dana, who had done some low-level boxing and, more importantly, promotion, went to the brothers (yes, childhood friends) and told them he knew what was wrong with the UFC as it stood, that he knew how to fix it. He asked them to front the money to buy it, and he would make it work for a 10% stake in the business. With that, the brothers formed Zuffa and gave Dana the reigns. After several years, with the UFC still underwater, "hemorrhaging money", as Dana put it, Dana actually asked if the brothers wanted to hang it up or stay the course, which they obviously chose the latter, citing that they were already "this deep", they might as well stick it out. In the end, it was all a matter of promotion, striking the right balance between "show and sport", and a contract with Spike TV, which Dana landed, pretty much sealing the deal and putting MMA in the mainstream. At one point in time, prior to Zuffa selling to WME-IMG, Dana's 10% stake was worth something north of $200M. Awesome success story, given as Dana had no real skin in the game, elbow equity aside. But it was Dana's baby from the start.

Thanks. Brad.

Originally Posted by vdrsnk04

Deeper info than I have read before. It’s an awesome story of being relentless and staying the course through the storm(s). Thanks for sharing.