Mixed Martial Arts Discussion

>tl;dr
>I WANNA BE THE VERY BEST! THE BEST THERE EVER WAAAS!

>The owners of the UFC are in advanced talks to sell the business, sources told ESPN.com.

>At least four bidders are believed to have submitted bids for the organization, including WME/IMG, China Media Capital, The Blackstone Group and Dalian Wanda Group. The winning bid, should things proceed, is expected to be for a valuation between $3.5 billion and $4 billion, multiple sources with knowledge of the negotiations told ESPN.com.

>"As a private company, we don't discuss speculation or rumors related to our business," said Dave Sholler, vice president of public relations and athlete marketing for the UFC.

>Investment bank Goldman Sachs has been representing Zuffa LLC, which bought the UFC in 2001 for only $2 million. Sources with knowledge of the numbers presented to potential investors said that Goldman Sachs had represented UFC's last full year earnings in the $200 million to $250 million range, before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. A new television rights deal, which would begin in 2019, could add an additional $250 million in annual revenue to the bottom line, investors were advised.

>Lorenzo Fertitta, who with his brother Frank owned more than 80 percent of the business at last public acknowledgment, told CNN in December that the private company grossed about $600 million in revenue last year. Besides the Fertittas, who are each worth about $1.6 billion, according to Forbes, the company has two other minority investors: UFC president Dana White and the Abu Dhabi government, which, under its Flash Entertainment arm, bought a 10 percent stake in the business for an undisclosed sum in 2010.

>The leader in the bid to buy the biggest mixed martial arts business in the world is said to be Chinese-based conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group, sources said. Its chairman, Wang Jianlin, is the richest man in China, worth nearly $35 billion, according to Forbes Magazine.

>The company has slowly been getting into sports. Last year, Wanda bought a 20 percent stake in soccer superpower Atletico Madrid for a reported $48 million. In March, amid the FIFA scandal, the company agreed to sign on as a FIFA partner, the highest level of sponsorship, through 2030.

>Other bidders said to be in the mix are WME/IMG, which owns media properties and represents athletes, including Rousey, the former UFC bantamweight champion. Blackstone Group is also believed to be a bidder. A senior executive at the private equity firm, David Blitzer, owns a minority stake in the New Jersey Devils, Philadelphia 76ers and British soccer team Crystal Palace.

>Another bidder is state-backed investment firm China Media Capital, which in October beat out Dalian Wanda and national broadcaster CCTV to win the broadcast rights for the Chinese Super League, the highest level of soccer in the country. In December, CMC, with another Chinese investment group, Citic Capital, bought a 13 percent stake of British soccer team Manchester City for a reported $400 million. UFC executive vice president Garry Cook was CEO of Manchester City from 2008 to 2011.

>If this turkey pulls out of UFC203, I'm done.

>On Wednesday, doctors at Boston Children’s Hospital announced that they have succeeded in reconnecting A.C.L.s in 10 patients using a novel technique.

>Their preliminary results at three months suggest that healing an original A.C.L. without the usual grafts may be a viable option in the future.

>In a preliminary study to assess safety, Dr. Martha Murray and her team at Boston Children’s Hospital performed standard reconstructions on 10 patients with A.C.L. tears and the experimental procedure, called bridge-enhanced A.C.L. repair, on 10 others.

>In the experimental technique, the surgeons placed a blood-soaked sponge between the ligament’s severed ends; the sponge acted as a bridge, helping the ligament grow back together over the next six to eight weeks.

>No participants in either group had ligaments that failed to reconnect, got an infection or had stiff knees.

>Three months after the operation, Mr. Peak, a doctoral candidate at Harvard School of Public Health, was back to running on the treadmill. This spring he will play ultimate Frisbee and soccer.

>However, repaired A.C.L.s have failed in the past. In the 1980’s, surgeons tried stitching torn A.C.L.s back together. The initial results were good, but five years later, less than half of those knees remained stable, Dr. Hannafin said.

>CM Punk sucks.
>Dude is stalling UFC.
>Dude will not fight one single time in UFC before retiring.
>Will retire due to age/injury/surgery.
>Been in UFC for 2 or 3 years.
>Zero fights.
>Zero respect.
>Pleb.