Sources say UFC sale not confirmed and may never happen

For the last several months, rumblings of a UFC sale have coursed through the MMA community. Rumors have flown in every direction, and up until this past month or so, the details have remained sketchy.

Fast forward to this week, where we've seen outlets reporting a confirmed sale to a multi-media group headed up by William Morris Endeavor, with CEO Ari Emanuel at the helm of the deal. One report stated that the deal was finalized between UFC brass and WME on Sunday at a meeting in Hollywood, however, there's a problem with that, according to TMZ. Emanuel was on a plane returning from a bar mitzvah that took place out of the country, and the Fertittas and Dana White were in Las Vegas all day.

TMZ also reports that source close to the situation confirm that there are negotiations going on, but "a deal isn't even close." They also stated that the source says that it hasn't even been determined if the sale will be for 100% of the UFC or just a portion of it. A further point was made that if the sale does indeed takes place, it won't happen this week, and there's a possibility it won't ever happen.

The UFC has vigorously denied the reports, and even issued a company memo. If the sale goes through for the reported $4.2B, it would be the biggest in sports history.