White Denies Top Rank Buyout Rumors

Could Endeavor be buying its way to the top of the boxing promotion game? UFC CEO Dana White says they’re not, but his record of truth-telling on acquisitions is spotty.

Is UFC parent company Endeavor on the verge of buying into the boxing world?

That’s the claim coming from longtime boxing reporter Rick Glaser, who dropped a bombshell on the combat sports community Christmas day.

“Promised everyone a Christmas gift, never printed, never talked about, biggest Boxing news in many years,” Glaser wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “Boxing powerhouse Top Rank is in the final due diligence stage of being sold to entertainment conglomerate Endeavor headed by Ari Emanuel.”

“Endeavor is the parent company of UFC & WWE, translated means after 58 years in boxing, 92 year old Bob Arum is retiring, & Dana White now enters the boxing business with the Top Rank purchase.”

“Look for longtime boxing stalwart & Dana White friend Tom Loeffler to have a major role at Top Rank once the purchase takes effect. Now that’s mega news in the Boxing World!!! Hope you enjoyed your Christmas gift!”

That’s a pretty juicy story with a lot of specifics. But according to UFC CEO Dana White, it’s not happening.

“Absolutely positively not true,” White wrote on social media. “We are not buying Top Rank.”

That’s just the kind of thing Dana White would say before a big money deal like this goes through. Remember how he was denying the UFC sale right up until the moment it was officially announced? So who to believe? MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani used his connections to look a little further into the story and his sources told him there’s “no truth to the rumor at this time.”

How will things look at a later time? We’ll keep you posted in case it looks like Endeavor is buying its way into another sport.