UFC A Business Model

Since purchasing the UFC in January, 2001, Lorenzo and Frank Fertita and their business partner Dana White have slowly but surely worked towards their ultimate goal, which is to turn the company into a successful global brand. After having run hugely successful shows not just in the United States but in countries like Brazil, Japan, and Canada as well, the company is well on its way to becoming as synonymous across the globe with fighting as the NBA is with basketball and the NFL is with football. When Ferititas and Dana White (under the company name Zuffa) took over the UFC from SEG in 2001, the company was first beginning to make the proper adjustments it would need for major mainstream success. In the early days, there were virtually no rules, no weight classes, no time limits, and a fighter could only win by knockout or submission. This led many, including Senator John McCain, to describe UFC as “Human Cockfighting” and was the reason it was banned in thirty-six states and not made available for broadcast by most PPV providers. By the time SEG sold UFC, they had implemented weight classes; time limited rounds with scoring systems, stricter rules, and had begun attempting to get the sport regulated by state athletic commissions. This is where Dana White and Lorenzo Fertita’s business and marketing savvy began to help turn things around. They knew they had a brand that was known, but that they needed to change the stigma most had attached to it. The first part of the battle was to make people think of the UFC as a sport and not a freak show. The Fertitas, former members of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, continued tweaking the rules and working with regulators to get UFC’s ban lifted in many states and get the company back on all pay-per-view outlets.
White, a former amateur boxer, looked at the decline in boxing’s popularity and realized that a lot of it could be attributed to the lack of colorful personalities and the fact that because