Real UFC/Zuffa History

[Liquidrob]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOjCy2_hfp8&feature=player_embedded[/ame]

[EmpireWF]

and?

[EmpireWF]

Meltzer has a look at big stories from a decade ago (WCW/UFC) and included this interesting nugget robbie:

...he second lead story of the week was Bob Meyrowitz and Semaphore Entertainment Group selling 100% of the dying Ultimate Fighting Championship franchise for $2 million to a new company called Zuffa, owned by Lorenzo Fertitta, older brother Frank Fertitta III and brother-in-law Blake Sartini. Dana White, described at the time as “the former manager of middleweight (later the class was changed to be called light heavyweight) champion Tito Ortiz,” was the man hired to run the company.

At the time it was believed this would be a turning point for a company that was only on PPV on some satellite systems. The belief was with Lorenzo Fertitta having been on the Nevada State Athletic Commission, that his power would enable the company to get sanctioned in Nevada, an important step in getting on PPV. Marc Ratner, who headed the Nevada commission, had been vocal against UFC, even once appearing on a debate on the Larry King show with Sen. John McCain against fighter Ken Shamrock and Meyrowitz during the height of the controversy. Still, Ratner by that point was more than amenable, as more than a year earlier, in what was considered a day that would turn around the fortunes of the sport, Nevada was going to discuss regulation and vote on it. The night before, Meyrowitz got a call saying the vote that was expected to go his way would not because one of the commissioners had changed his mind.

Years later this is still controversial. Meyrowitz claimed it was Fertitta who was the commissioner in question in several interviews, but when CNBC put that on the air, they were threatened with a lawsuit by Fertitta, edited out the claim in later airings and Meyrowitz backed off. One person with knowledge of went down that night had since told us that there was a commissioner who changed his mind, but while the romantic version of it being Fertitta makes for an awesome and ironic story, that story wasn’t true....

[Warner2BruceTD]

This is nothing new, this story has been floating around for many years.

So let me get this straight...a casino owner was involved in political mischeif, backstabbing, and dirty dealings? You don't say. Tell me another one.