Several weeks ago, the UFC announced a list of celebrity owners who had purchased a stake in the promotion following its sale to WME I IMG. Among those celebrities were athletes like Tom Brady, Serena and Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova.
Naturally, many assumed that the wave of investment would mean that the new owners could be involved in certain UFC activities and attend events. However, that does not appear to be the case with Russian tennis star Sharapova.
"Maria believes in the company's success, however, has no plans to participate in the activities of the UFC,” Sharapova’s talent agency, IMG, informed Tass.ru’s Igor Lazorin.
Sharapova is currently serving a suspension for an anti-doping violation stemming from the controversial Meldonium substance. Sharapova successfully appealed her two-year suspension to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), which reduced the period to 15 months. The International Tennis Federation initially proposed a four-year ban for the substance that is yet to be proven as a performance enhancer.
Sharapova is eligible to resume competition on the WTA tour on April 26, 2017.
The remainder of the UFC’s 23 celebrity owners include Ben Affleck, Michael Bay, Rob Dyrdek, Guy Fieri, Flea, Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye, Calvin Harris, Anthony Kiedis, Jimmy Kimmel, Robert Kraft, Adam Levine, Li Na, LL Cool J, Cam Newton, Conan O’Brien, Trey Parker, Tyler Perry, Sylvester Stallone and Mark Wahlberg.