After winning the UFC Lightweight belt by knocking out Eddie Alvarez in the second round, Conor McCregor became the first man to hold two championship belts. Now he wants to be part-owner of UFC and Mark Wahlberg seems willing to give his UFC shares.
TMZ reported that Wahlberg was willing to offer him part of his shares in UFC because Conor McGregor now is the new face of UFC and his dominance of the game will bring substantial fortune for UFC shareholders. Walhberg said McGeregor deserves to be given the chance to own shares because of his huge crowd-drawing influence in UFC fights.
McGregor is used to make demands when negotiating for his fights and is a true businessman as well as an excellent fighter. He recently demanded $100 million to fight retired welterweight boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr., although the fight was never a confirmed deal according to Sports Joe.
The ownership of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has gone to the WME-IMG group led by Ariel Emanuel and Patrick Whitesell who bought almost all the shares of the previous owners for $4 billion. The deal is the biggest in the history of sports and gave the previous owners, Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta of Zuffa, a huge bonanza in profits since they purchased UFC for only $2 million in 2001.
The old owners had yielded their control of the business but Dana White, who owns nine percent of UFC shares will still continue to serve as President of the company. Other owners holding shares in the company are celebrities, film and TV personalities like Mark Wahlberg and Conan Obrien.
With all these developments, Conor McGregor is making lots of noise and demands that he deserves to earn more for his association with UFC. After all, champions like him are the ones attracting all the crowds to see the fights and make profits for stockholders.
