Vince McMahon's skepticism of Shane McMahon's fight business vision cost him UFC opportunity, says Dana White

The merger of the UFC and WWE is one of the biggest moments in the history of martial arts and entertainment. The two companies have been in healthy competition for years, but have now merged under the name TKO Holdings Group. However, Dana White made a shocking revelation that this would have happened a long time ago, thanks to Shane McMahon.

Vince McMahon's son, Shane, has always been a business-minded person and dreamed of building something similar to his father and grandfather. However, the elder Mr. McMahon was less supportive of his son's ambitions.

Dana White claims Shane McMahon wanted to buy UFC

Back in early 2001, the biggest news in professional wrestling was Shane McMahon buying WCW. This was a huge blow to Vince McMahon, as WCW was a huge tournament until it sadly folded. Everything was planned because it was a story angle that WWE wanted to explore. But what wasn't planned was Shane's love for martial arts.

For fans of Shane, his love for combat sports such as MMA and UFC comes as no surprise. He was a big fan of his MMA even before his UFC debut. He trains it and enjoys watching it. A sports fan and businessman, he always wanted to buy his UFC. Even though he tried to convince Vince McMahon several times, he was always rejected.

talk to Kurt 'Big Boy' Alexander said on his podcast Big Boy TV that White said: “Vince McMahon, I heard that his son Shane wanted to buy the UFC. Vince had the opportunity to buy it. And Vince said, “Yeah.” No, we're not going to buy it. ”

The older McMahon felt that the UFC was out of his reach, as he was more interested in the entertainment side of martial arts at the time. He never made an offer and prevented his son from doing so.

The McMahons couldn't do it, but someone else did. Back in 2001, the Fertitta brothers purchased the UFC organization for $2 million. Following this, they invested $30 million before the first season. of Ultimate Fighter (TUF) This saved the company and gained a good fan base. According to White, Shane was trying to raise money from his father, but his father refused.

Why Vince McMahon didn't buy UFC

White went on to reveal that Vince McMahon could have easily bought the UFC. After acquiring WCW for $2.5 million in 2001, competition with WWE was non-existent. At the time, WWE and Vince McMahon were the biggest names in professional wrestling and sports entertainment. “Vince could have bought this and just put it on the shelf. Or Vince could have bought it and let his son do it. [run it],” Mr White concluded:

With White's bombshell statement, it's clear that Vince McMahon could have just as easily bought the UFC as he did WCW. Even though Shane promised that martial arts like the UFC were gaining traction, Vince wasn't convinced. There was no guarantee that something like the UFC would be embraced by the general public like professional wrestling. This was also a time when Vince McMahon was more concerned about acquiring rivals WCW and ECW.

What do you think would have happened if the McMahon family had bought the UFC in the early 2000s?

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