It was late 2006, and International Fight League CEO and co-creator Gareb Shamus knew he needed help. His upstart, team-based MMA promotion had been around for less than a year and was struggling to gain a foothold on TV, thanks in part to a deal with FOX Sports Net that aired IFL events on tape-delay and in wildly different time slots, depending on the market. What the IFL needed was a better TV deal. And to get that, Shamus reasoned, he needed a “powerhouse” by his side at the negotiating table. That’s when the IFL reached out to the William Morris Agency. Back then it wasn’t WME-IMG, the company that, with the help of other investors, recently purchased the UFC for over $4 billion .
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What’s in store for UFC under new ownership? Look to WME-IMG’s recent past – MMA Junkie