Today the UFC reveled its “Big Announcement” to UFC employees, Co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta will leave his post as President of Station Casino to focus full time on the expansion of the UFC.
“The problem, if there is a problem, is that the business has gotten so successful, it’s requiring more time, focus and attention…Station Casinos is a business my family and I have built and now it’s a multi-billion dollar company. But the reality is, the UFC has gone through so much growth in the last eight years, my brother and I felt we’d be better in divide and conquer mode. He’ll stay at Station Casinos and take care of that and I’ll come over here and work on the issues involving the UFC.”
The UFC plans expansion to Brazil, Europe and Asia:
“Think about this for a second: India has 350 million men between the ages of 18 and 34, and that’s our key demographic…The magnitude of these markets is staggering. Dana has been doing a phenomenal job with this company, and I’ve been doing what I could given my responsibilities (at Station Casinos).
“The UFC is going to have a global footprint in the not-too-distant future. We’re already working on furthering our position in Brazil. This is getting so big that it demanded I spend more time with it.”
“I think the potential for the UFC within the next five years globally is that it is going to be bigger than the NFL, bigger than Major League Baseball. As huge as the NFL is here, they don’t give a (expletive) about the NFL in Europe. But fighting transcends continents. Everybody on every continent understands a fight.”
