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After strong whispers over the weekend that multiple trips by UFC officials to Abu Dhabi were to negotiate the sale of a 10 percent minority stake, the news became official today when the promotion released the information to AP<\/a>: \n<\/p>\n UFC<\/a> Neither Fertitta nor Ossama Khoreibi, chairman of Flash, Reports initially surfaced back in October that the UFC was looking for minority investors: <\/p>\n "We made the decision early on that if we were to bring on Flash is now ahead of Dana White in the ownership pecking order. White owns nine percent, Flash owns 10 percent while the Fertittas, Lorenzo and his brother Frank III, each own 40.5 percent.<\/a><\/p>\n The infusion of money also opens speculation that the Fertittas could use the money as a crutch for their struggling gaming company, Station Casinos: <\/p>\n\n
\nco-owner Lorenzo Fertitta told The Associated Press that the deal with Flash
\nEntertainment, a subsidiary owned by the emirate’s government, was done to
\ncreate increased value for UFC and help the mixed martial arts league expand in
\nthe Middle East and Asia.<\/p>\n
\nwould estimate UFC’s worth or say what Flash paid for the newly issued shares in
\nZuffa LLC, its parent company. Fertitta says terms of the deal are
\nconfidential.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
\na partner, it wasn’t for financial reasons," Fertitta said. "We didn’t need to
\nraise any money, that wasn’t the purpose. If we were going to bring somebody it
\nwas going to be with someone that could really be a true strategic partner and
\ncould help create an increased value for the company long term."\n<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n