Ahead of Dana White and Vince McMahon’s Monumental UFC 300 and WrestleMania 40, Major Changes Expected From Endeavor’s $21B UFC-WWE Merger

At the beginning of 2023, WWE announced that it would be merging with UFC’s parent company, Endeavor. The unexpected move drew the attention of wrestling and MMA fans, who wondered what new changes would take place. Presently, some of the changes that might take place are clear, including both of these promotions combining into one giant combat sports company.

Back in April, combat sports fans were surprised to learn about how Dana White’s UFC and Vince McMahon’s WWE would be brought under the same umbrella. Without much delay, the UFC and WWE will become one this Tuesday. UFC president Dana White and WWE president Nick Khan will continue to serve their roles. It seems that before the monumental UFC 300 and WrestleMania 40, some significant changes might happen in both of these organizations.

Major changes to take place in the promotions of Dana White and Nick Khan

The parent company of the UFC, Endeavor, bought WWE to establish a $21 billion combat sports organization. Now the two will be combined and brought under TKO Holdings. In the new company, Endeavor owns 51% of the shares, while WWE has 49% ownership. Even though both of these promotions come under the same umbrella, they will continue to work independently. Both promotions have major events and media deals to negotiate before WrestleMania 40 and UFC 300. At the moment, combat sports lovers are eagerly waiting for these events.

According to the report of Front Office Sports, the MMA promotion’s current deal with ESPN+ expires in 2025, and the wrestling promotion’s present media deals for SmackDown and Raw with Fox and USA Network are set to end in 2024. There is speculation that the new company could create a single streaming service to house some or all of the content of these promotions when these deals expire.

There is no chance of a crossover

When Endeavor bought WWE for $9.3 billion, many speculated that there was a possibility of a crossover between WWE and the UFC. The prospect made many excited, as their favorite fighters from two different worlds would come together. However, soon after the rumor spread like wildfire, the UFC president, Dana White, came to the forefront to clear the air. White made it clear that there won’t be a crossover between UFC bouts and WWE bouts. According to White these two are entirely different from each other and work differently.

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The UFC boss said how WWE has incredible thoughts and already knows what they have to do inside the ring. He mentioned how everyone knows that WWE is scripted, and the major intention of each event is to provide entertainment to the fans. On the other hand, in the UFC, the major focus is on real fights, and everything that happens inside the octagon is way too real. Hence, the president strongly believes that a crossover between the two is not possible. What are your thoughts about the merger? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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