The UFC and WWE have officially combined to form TKO.
Following the merger between the UFC's parent company Endeavor and the WWE that made headlines earlier this year, TKO officially launched Tuesday and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
The new company will combine the forces of the two promoters with Endeavor owning 51 percent while WWE shareholders will own 49 percent. According to a press release, TKO will serve “more than one billion young and diverse fans, reaching viewers in 180 countries, and producing more than 350 annual live events.”
“Where we want to get is where every UFC fan is a WWE fan and every WWE fan is a UFC fan,” UFC senior executive vice president and chief operating officer Lawrence Epstein told ESPN.
The launch of TKO also notably marks the end of the McMahon era as majority owners of the WWE with last night's Monday Night RAW episode being the last under their ownership.
However, former WWE chairman Vince McMahon will still have a major role to play as he will serve as executive chairman of TKO while Nick Khan will act as WWE president.
UFC president Dana White, meanwhile, will now carry the title of UFC CEO with Endeavor's Ari Emanuel being the TKO CEO. Endeavor's Mark Shapiro will be TKO president and COO.
“We've always thought there was just incredible opportunity to sort of roll up these two great brands and great organizations in the combat sports space,” Epstein said. “We were a little bit early in our thinking on this thing. And of course, it's really exciting and really a dream come true to have this come together.”
Of course, when the news was initially announced, many were excited about the crossover potential of the deal. That said, the UFC day-to-day will will remain the same with White running things and the same goes for the WWE programming with former superstar and McMahon's son-in-law Paul “Triple H” Levesque running creative.
The merger's main benefits were from a business standpoint, but Epstein revealed one possibility could be the UFC and WWE holding major events in the same weekend in one city with tourism authorities being sold on a package deal.
However, there is a possibility of UFC fighters potentially heading to the WWE once their MMA careers are over.
“UFC fighters are going to stay focused on the UFC and WWE superstars obviously do something different in our ring,” 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.”
Some notable figures to crossover into both worlds are Brock Lesnar, Cain Velasquez and Ronda Rousey. Former UFC two-weight champion and commentator Daniel Cormier — a self-professed professional wrestling fan — has also appeared on WWE programming and was notably present at the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday.
TKO Holdings on the New York Stock Exchange. pic.twitter.com/v8s6LRzu8p
— Wrestling News (@WrestlingNewsCo) September 12, 2023
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