Dana White thinks WBD could potentially bid on UFC TV rights

WBD could be a landing spot for the UFC if ESPN doesn’t close a deal with the world’s top fight company within its exclusive negotiating window.

White did an interview with Sports Business Journal after this weekend’s UFC 303 when the topic of UFC’s impending media rights came up. When specifically asked if WBD was interested in UFC, White said, “I think everyone is kicking the tires and is interested in making a bid.”

The UFC rights expire in 2025 with ESPN’s exclusive window to negotiate beginning this January although White and other TKO executives have previously said both sides have talked already. TKO’s Mark Shapiro has said they want to be “flexible” with these negotiations, even suggesting that ESPN might be willing to buy out their pay-per-view rights altogether in order to charge more for their standalone streaming service.

White said that while UFC has “had some headbutting with ESPN” during the course of their relationship, he thinks both sides are in a very good place with how the overall relationship has gone.

“We’ll see how it plays out,” he said.

White has worked with WBD previously for the launch of his inaugural Power Slap series that only lasted one season on TBS.

It is expected that WBD will lose their long-running NBA TV rights package, potentially opening up some significant budget for a bid. They are currently in negotiations with AEW on a TV rights renewal with that exclusive negotiating window set to expire shortly as the current deal between both sides is believed to end at the end of 2024.