Nick Khan shares his thoughts on UFC fighters potentially making the jump to WWE following the merger between the two companies.
The deal between WWE and Endeavor became official on September 12, so TKO, the publicly traded company that came about due to the merger, was born. As part of the merger, Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel is the CEO of the new company, while Mark Shapiro serves as the president and chief operating officer of the new company.
Speaking with Marc Raimondi of ESPN, WWE President Nick Khan discussed the merger. He noted that he thought Vince McMahon began looking at Endeavor and UFC as a potential partner when he attended UFC 276 in July 2022.
Per Raimondi, there are no plans for “massive changes” to the product from WWE or UFC. Triple H will remain WWE’s head of creative.
Khan also commented on the potential outcome of UFC fighters transitioning to WWE.
“UFC fighters are gonna stay focused on the UFC and WWE superstars obviously do something different in our ring,” Nick Khan said. “… but you also see in the UFC people with big personalities who, once their UFC run is done, once the UFC and the fighter says, ‘Hey, maybe now’s the time to call it a day,’ could those people have a longer life at WWE, an extended life with TKO? We think so.”
UFC Executive Comments On Merger With WWE
Raimondi also spoke with UFC senior executive vice president and chief operating officer Lawrence Epstein, who highlighted the aim to maximize crossover of the fandoms.
“Where we want to get is where every UFC fan is a WWE fan and every WWE fan is a UFC fan,” Epstein said.
Epstein additionally noted that they have always thought there was a great opportunity to “roll up” WWE and UFC, and he called the merger a dream come true.
WrestleZone will provide more information as it becomes available.
