Zuffa

Zuffa, LLC (pronounced /ˈzuːfə/) is an American sports promotion company of 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. Lorenzo Fertitta is the company's CEO and Chairman while Dana White runs the day-to-day operations.^[2] Zuffa is co-owned by Fertitta brothers (40.5% each), Dana White (9%) and Sheik Tahnoon of Abu Dhabi (Flash Entertainment) (10%).^[3]

Zuffa, LLC

Company type	Limited liability company
Industry	Sports promotion
Founded	2001 (2001)
Founder	Frank Fertitta III Lorenzo Fertitta
Headquarters	Las Vegas, Nevada , USA
Key people	Lorenzo Fertitta (Chairman & CEO) Dana White[1]
Owner	Frank Fertitta III (40.5%) Lorenzo Fertitta (40.5%) Flash Entertainment (10%) Dana White (9%)[2]
Subsidiaries	Ultimate Fighting Championship Defunct: World Fighting Alliance (2006) PRIDE Fighting Championships (2007) World Extreme Cagefighting (2010) Strikeforce (2013)

Zuffa is credited around the world for turning around the UFC and increasing the status of mixed martial arts in the United States from one with a limited audience and regional competitions to a multi-million dollar company with millions of viewers and internationally popular events.^[source?]

The word "Zuffa" is an Italian word, meaning "scuffle"

References

1. "Zuffa, LLC". Bloomberg Businessweek. bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
2. "Minority interest sold in UFC parent company". Yahoo! Sports. 2010-01-12. Retrieved 2010-01-12.
3. "Zuffa Announces 10% Sale To Abu Dhabi's Flash Entertainment". MMA Convert. 2010-01-12. Archived from the original on 2010-04-26. Retrieved 2010-01-12.