Correction: A previous version of this story inaccurately stated the financial status of Station Casinos. The gaming company continues to operate.
Between meetings Wednesday afternoon, Lorenzo Fertitta, CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, proclaimed UFC 200 the "Card of the Century." But he also said it was premature to call it a success.
"There are things outside of our control," he said.
That night, UFC announced Jon Jones was being pulled from the main event set for Saturday night in Las Vegas because of a potential doping violation.
"If the crowd’s not happy, we sense it," Fertitta had said.
Fertitta and the UFC will sense that and likely lose millions of dollars in pay-per-view revenue without Jones, who was the headliner for UFC’s milestone event. But this is no devastating knockout blow for the mixed martial arts promotion company, whose growth has allowed it to withstand such setbacks and silence skeptics.
Lorenzo Fertitta, 48, who along with his brother Frank, 54, bought UFC in 2001 despite objections from their father, who was a respected entrepreneur and founder of Station Casinos, the gaming company in Las Vegas.
At the time, Sen. John McCain called mixed martial arts "human cockfighting" and UFC was banned from staging events in many states, including New York. Before purchasing UFC for $2 million, the Fertitta brothers sat down with their father.
"We tried to explain to him what our vision was and what we were trying to do," Lorenzo Fertitta told USA TODAY Sports, "how we were going to focus on the health and safety of the fighters and clean up the sport and have rules and regulations and re-position the brand. But he was adamantly opposed to it just because of all the negative perceptions that had surrounded the sport."
That $2 million investment 15 years ago might rank as one of the shrewdest in sports history. According to published reports, UFC has been negotiating with potential buyers who have offered more than $4 billion.
Lorenzo Fertitta declined to comment on the reports but did say, "We’re always looking at different opportunities. Obviously you can imagine with the success we’ve had as a company, people always want to sit down and talk to us."
Yet at one point, it looked as if the Fertittas' father knew best. By 2005, the losses since the brothers’ purchase exceeded $30 million, according to Lorenzo Fertitta, who said he and his brother considered dumping UFC.
But then, they decided to give it one last shot by spending $10 million to develop and produce The Ultimate Fighter, a reality show Spike TV agreed to televise. It was a ratings hit, and by the finale of the 12-episode season, the Fertitta brothers knew they had weathered the storm.
The next year, during a UFC card in Anaheim, Calif. at the Arrowhead Pond, renamed the Honda Center, that featured a heavyweight bout between Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin, Lorenzo Fertitta was at the fight with his father.
"The energy and the buzz was off the charts, and he was at the event in the front row next to me," Lorenzo Fertitta said. "He grabbed me and he said, 'You know what? I’ve got to admit that I was wrong. You guys were right. I didn’t see what you guys saw.'
"He gave us credit for what had been built and the fact that the thing had been turned in the fashion that it had. That was a pretty cool moment from me."
The cool moments kept on coming.
In 2006, UFC signed a sponsorship deal with Bud Light, which helped attract Harley Davidson and a host of other companies.
In 2011, UFC signed a seven-year broadcast rights deal with Fox Sports, reportedly worth $700 million.
In 2015, UFC was on pace to generate about $600 million that year, Lorenzo Fertitta said at the end of 2015.
Meanwhile, Ronda Rousey and Conor McGregor emerged as UFC’s first mainstream stars. After both suffered unexpected losses, UFC continued to rake in millions of dollars in pay-per-view buys, thanks to its loyal fan base and fight cards that generally include 12 bouts.
That deep lineup for UFC 200 will help absorb the loss of the scheduled headline event — Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier.
"Boxing, when they have their Fight of the Century, that’s exactly what it is, one fight," Lorenzo Fertitta said before the UFC announced Jones would not fight before of the apparent doping violation. "What we’re doing with UFC 200, the Card of the Century.
"This is about value from top to bottom."
But in light of published reports about a possible sale, it’s also about the value of the UFC, with the Fertitta brothers and Dana White, UFC’s president and a minority owner, in position to cash in.
"We believe that it’s one of the most valuable entities in all of sport," Lorenzo Fertitta said. "I’ve never been more bullish on the business."
Follow Josh Peter on Twitter @joshlpeter11.
