Zuffa

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Zuffa, LLC
Type	Private
Founded	2001
Founder	Frank Fertitta III, Lorenzo Fertitta
Headquarters	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Key people	Dana White, President of the UFC
Industry	Sports promotion
Subsidiaries	Ultimate Fighting Championship, World Extreme Cagefighting, PRIDE Fighting Championships
Owner	Frank Fertitta III, Lorenzo Fertitta, Dana White

Zuffa, LLC is an American sports promotion company specializing in the promotion of mixed martial arts. It was founded in January 2001 in Las Vegas, Nevada to be the new parent entity behind the Ultimate Fighting Championship by Station Casinos executives Frank Fertitta III and Lorenzo Fertitta, after they purchased the UFC from Semaphore Entertainment Group. Zuffa is the entity credited with taking the UFC and mixed martial arts in the United States from a marginalized sport to being the fastest growing sport in the country, with fast-rising popularity within the highly-desired 18-30 male demographic.

Zuffa is often credited with "cleaning up" mixed martial arts in the United States, also known as "no holds barred" fighting, but its contributions to the regulation of the sport has often been exaggerated by the media. The current rules used in the UFC was first established by the New Jersey Athletic Control Board in 2000, in consultation with the UFC and other MMA promotions in the United States. The first UFC event under the new rules was UFC 28, held before Zuffa's takeover. New Jersey's Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts has since been established throughout the country by other state athletic commissions, including Nevada and California. The UFC has however kept close ties with state commissions, especially the Nevada State Athletic Commission, of which Lorenzo Fertitta was a former board member.

On December 11, 2006, Zuffa acquired the assets of the World Fighting Alliance, and formed WFA Enterprises, LLC. as a subsidiary to handle these assets, including select fighter contracts.[1] On the same day, it was reported that Zuffa was formalizing plans to buy World Extreme Cagefighting, to be run as a separate promotion from the UFC.

In an interview with the Baltimore Sun.com, Dana White, President of Zuffa, stated he has no plans on Zuffa becoming a publicly traded company.

On March 27, 2007, it was announced that Frank Fertitta III and Lorenzo Fertitta is acquiring Pride Fighting Championships. To handle the take over, the Fertitta brothers created a new corporate entity, Pride FC Worldwide Holdings LLC. Pride FC Worldwide Holdings LLC will handle all of Pride's assets.

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