Insiders speak about Shane McMahon’s possible impact in the UFC as a Owner or Executive

Published on: 24th November, 2009

Insiders speak about Shane McMahon's possible impact in the UFC as a Owner or Executive  | read this item

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The possibility of Shane McMahon joining the UFC came to light a few weeks ago when it was revealed that the WWE Vice president of Global media had sat down with UFC president Dana White for a meeting. McMahon recently turned in his letter of resignation effective January 1, 2010 and could be looking for a new business venture to step out of the shadow of his father Vince McMahon, who built the WWE into the world’s biggest professional wrestling promotion.

Heavy.com recently spoke to a friend close the McMahon family who put Shane’s interests in the UFC into prospective.

“Shane more than anyone sees connections between his father’s company and the UFC,” one close friend of the family told me. “He loves his family but doesn’t think the wrestling business will ever reach the levels it did in the late 1990’s. He’s good friends with some of the fighters and sees MMA taking wrestling’s place in the popular culture.”

Another former WWE employee also spoke about how Shane could help the UFC grow in merchandise, TV deals and international licensing. A paticular spot where the WWE has suceeded and the UFC has barely scratched the surface of. The former employee also spoke about how Shane could make headway in the worst business deals.

“Shane was very active in international licensing and pulled in many deals that had a very low chance of happening-like the Televisa TV deal where WWE had gotten the door slammed in its face for years,” a former WWE employee said. “He’s strong on interpersonal relationships while being firm on business matters. In layman’s terms, you considered him your best buddy while he was taking advantage of you on a deal.”

The report also gave details of a possible position that Shane could jump into right away and help where two other UFC executives have failed.

“The man Shane would likely replace, recently hired executive Bryan Johnston, has failed to impress Zuffa in his short tenure on the job. Johnston came to the company from Burton Snowboards and has a very strong reputation. But since joining Zuffa this year, he hasn’t been able to secure the major deals company officials were expecting. McMahon, though he might be tempted to jump off the Octagon and onto Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg’s announce table, can certainly do better than that.”

Another possibility the report mentions is a possible future deal between the Shane McMahon and the Fertitta brothers to become a partner in Zuffa. While it may sound like a long shot at first, the Fertitta brother did lose a big amount of money last year in failed business ventures outside of Zuffa ( the UFC’s parent company). The Fertittas brothers were forced earlier this year to place Station Casinos inc. into chapter 11 bankruptcy in order to pay their creditors in a prepackaged deal.

Shane also cashed out over $50 million in WWE stock this year and still has another $30 million left in the company to purchase a piece of Zuffa.

No one knows for sure if either of these two possibilities will 100% happen, but there is now more information to support that Shane may have a lot to offer to Zuffa then most observers realize.

We look forward to bringing you more information as this situation unfolds, but we do not expect too much news to come too soon. Business deals like this take a lot of time and Shane still has to wait until January 1, to act on any deal with Zuffa.

 Alberto Martinez "The Narcisist" is the founding owner of URDirt.com. If you would like to post on the front page or in our New "Fan Jab" section all you need to do is register. Read more from this author

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