Las Vegas-based UFC, a mixed-martial arts empire, has been sold for $4 billion; and this time, it's for real. 
 
 Stories about a possible sale have surfaced for the last two months, but each time the purported deals collapsed. However, this time, 8 News Now has learned, the papers were signed on Saturday. 
 
 The price tag makes this the largest single deal in the history of sports, according to sources close to the situation. 
 
 Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, the brothers who own 80% of UFC, originally purchased the sports network for $2 million. The Fertittas will retain a small percentage in the new ownership group. 
 
 The new owners include an alphabet-soup partnership of WME (William Morris Endeavor), the internationally known talent agency, IMG (International Management Group) a global sports and entertainment company based in New York, and MSD, a private equity group headed by Michael Dell. Also involved as a strategic partner is KKR, a global investment firm. 
 
 According to persons familiar with the deal, Lorenzo Fertitta will remain as chairman of UFC for 6-8 weeks during the transition but will step down after that. UFC president Dana White, who currently owns 9% of the organization, will continue in his role with UFC and will have a smaller ownership stake. 
 
 A full announcement is expected early Monday morning. 

 SAN FRANCISCO — Ultimate Fighting Championship seemed for years to be a curio, a niche sport for those interested in seeing combatants pummel one another in an octagonal cage. 
 
 But U.F.C. has become a global sports empire — and now commands an eye-popping price tag. 
 
 The league, which promotes mixed martial arts, is expected to announce as soon as Monday that it has sold itself to a group led by the talent giant WME-IMG for about $4 billion, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter. Backing the deal are the private equity heavyweights Silver Lake, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, and the investment firm of the billionaire Michael S. Dell. 
 
 The deal highlights the power and reach of the 23-year-old U.F.C., whose fights are now shown in more than 156 countries and take place in all 50 states, and which claims millennials as some 45 percent of its audience. 
 
 For its new owners, the league represents a prime source of content, particularly in the digital arena. Beyond its headline fights, which the company asserts are the best-selling events on pay-per-view TV, U.F.C. over all generates roughly 2,000 hours’ worth of material each year, much of it available on its Fight Pass streaming service. 

 Miesha Tate is separated by Dana White from Amanda Nunes during the UFC 200 weigh-ins in Las Vegas, Friday, July 8, 2016. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Sun via AP) (Associated Press) 
 
 Miesha Tate is separated by Dana White from Amanda Nunes during the UFC 200 weigh-ins in Las Vegas, Friday, July 8, 2016. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Sun via AP) (Associated Press) 
 
 LOS ANGELES (AP) — The UFC has been sold for approximately $4 billion to a group led by Hollywood talent agency WME-IMG. 
 
 UFC President Dana White confirmed the sale of the mixed martial arts promotional company in text messages to The Associated Press on Sunday night. 
 
 WME co-CEO Ari Emanuel also announced the sale early Monday in an internal company email that included SNTV — a joint venture between The Associated Press and IMG. 
 
 "We've been honored to have UFC and a number of its athletes as clients and couldn't be happier to take our relationship to this next level as the organization's owner and operating partner," Emanuel said. 
 
 White will stay on to run the UFC, which has grown from a money-losing promotion in a minor sport into a global entertainment brand. UFC owners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta have tapped out of the company after nearly 16 years, although they'll retain a minority interest. The Abu Dhabi government still owns 10 percent of the UFC as well. 
 
 The New York Times first reported the completion of the long-rumored deal. It has financial backing from private equity firms Silver Lake Partners, which owns WME-IMG, and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, along with the investment firm of billionaire Michael Dell, founder of Dell Computers. 
 
 "UFC has experienced tremendous growth over the last decade and we are looking forward to helping the organization and its athletes identify new opportunities to develop and further establish their global footprint," Emanuel said. 
 
 The UFC was founded in 1993 as the Ultimate Fighting Championship, staging violent fights that were banned or unregulated in many areas. The Fertitta brothers and White, their high school friend, purchased the promotion for $2 million in 2001. 
 
 With White as the promotional face and Lorenzo Fertitta as its chairman, the Las Vegas-based UFC was kept afloat by the Fertittas' casino fortune while the sport once labeled by John McCain as "human cockfighting" gradually gained widespread acceptance and popularity. 
 
 The UFC used cable television and the internet to get its intriguing product in front of young fans, and they also sought legitimacy by welcoming regulation by athletic commissions. New York finally lifted its ban on MMA earlier this year, putting the sport in all 50 states. 
 
 After helping Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz become stars who straddled the line between sports and entertainment, the promotion now boasts a stable of elite athletes with mainstream fame, including Conor McGregor, Brock Lesnar and Ronda Rousey, who is represented by WME. 
 
 Although the UFC has received occasional criticism from fighters for its pay scale, its ability to control talent costs is a major factor in its profitability. Its position atop MMA also allows it to match the sport's top fighters against each other consistently, setting it apart from the hopelessly fractured world of boxing. 
 
 The UFC's price tag has drawn gasps since it was first rumored earlier this year, but the consortium is getting a sports property with a unique niche and ample growth potential. 
 
 WME purchased IMG, the sports and event management group, in 2013, and the talent agency has evolved into a multifaceted entertainment company. The organization already made moves into niche sports properties last year by buying Professional Bull Riders and forming an e-sports gaming league with Turner Broadcasting. 
 
 With more than 500 athletes under contract, the UFC stages roughly 40 events per year and is broadcast in more than 150 countries, reaching 1.1 billion television households. The promotion has built a large roster of endorsement deals and sponsorships, and its subsidiary ventures include everything from a digital streaming service to more than 100 branded fitness centers. 
 
 The UFC also recently began construction in Las Vegas on a 180,000-square-foot, campus-style corporate headquarters that also will house training and rehabilitation facilities for its fighters. 
 
 The UFC appears regularly on Fox under its seven-year broadcast deal, which ends in 2018. The next contract is expected to be extraordinarily lucrative. 
 
 On Saturday night, the promotion staged the landmark UFC 200 show in its hometown. The event drew 18,202 fans to T-Mobile Arena and took in $10.8 million in ticket sales, both Nevada records for the company.
– The UFC has been sold for $4 billion in what sources say is the biggest sports deal in history, per Las Vegas Now. After months of rumors, UFC President Dana White announced the sale to a group led by Hollywood talent agency WME-IMG—which boasts UFC stars like Ronda Rousey as clients and has Ari Emanuel as its co-CEO—on Sunday night, reports the AP. The deal marks a major milestone for the global entertainment brand, bought by casino owners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta in 2000 for just $2 million, reports the New York Times. Taking advantage of social media marketing, distribution partnerships, and licensing deals, they transformed the brand into one that brought in $600 million in revenue last year. The Fertitta brothers will retain a minority interest in the company while White, their high school buddy, will continue running the UFC. Though the sport was once referred to by John McCain as "human cockfighting," the UFC now has more than 500 athletes under contract, hosts some 40 events each year, and is broadcast in 156 countries, per the AP. "We've been honored to have UFC and a number of its athletes as clients and couldn't be happier to take our relationship to this next level as the organization's owner and operating partner," Emanuel says. "UFC has experienced tremendous growth over the last decade and we are looking forward to helping the organization and its athletes identify new opportunities to develop and further establish their global footprint.” Private equity firms Silver Lake Partners, which owns WME-IMG, and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts are backing the deal along with Michael Dell's investment firm.