January 12, 2010, - 1:26 pm
Ultimate Fighting Islamists & Israel-Haters?: Abu Dhabi Buys 10% of UFC
Longtime readers know that I like boxing, fights, and that one of my guilty pleasures is watching a good martial arts movie. Sometimes, since I can’t do that stuff to get out my own stress, I like watching those who do. It’s a vicarious thing for the non-violent and physically tiny and powerless (i.e., me).
Look For a Burqa to Veil Islamic Gulf-State Owned UFC
So, it really bugs me that even something as viscerally American as UFC–the Ultimate Fighting Championship–is now 10% owned by an anti-Semitic Gulf state, which has a policy of travel apartheid and won’t let Jewish Israelis into its borders. Yup, the UFC is now 10% owned by the sons of the late Sheikh Zayed Al-Nahyan, whose Zayed Center funded anti-Semitic, Holocaust-denying, anti-Israel, and 9/11 Truther speakers, authors, and books.
These Islamofascists are buying EVERYTHING. Like I always say, remember the good old days . . . when the Japanese owned everything in America?
Flash Entertainment, an event management company owned by the Abu Dhabi government, bought a 10 percent stake in Zuffa LLC, owners of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Extreme Cagefighting as the sport grows in popularity.
Flash shares “our vision, passion, and enthusiasm for the UFC,” said Lorenzo J. Fertitta, UFC Chairman, in the PRNewswire statement today. “We are confident that this partnership will accelerate the worldwide growth of the UFC.”
Hmm . . . does UFC have a “vision, passion, and enthusiasm” for Judenrein like Abu Dhabi does?
Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates which is home to about 8 percent of the world’s oil supply, has embarked on an expansion and modernization plan as it looks to diversify away from its crude-driven economy. The government’s 2030 plan, devised in 2007, foresees the population growing to as much as 5 million from an estimated 1.6 million in 2008. The emirate hosted its first Formula One race in November. It is also building a branch of Paris’ Sorbonne University and Louvre and Guggenheim museums.
Uh, you can’t “modernize” if you are obsessed with ancient, backwoods Middle Eastern anti-Semitism, as UAE and Abu Dhabi are. You can have all the fancy museums in the world, but if you don’t get rid of rabid anti-Semitism, you’re nothing more than savages with money and nice cars, which is essentially what the Gulf states are.
Wrestling is not new to the emirate. The Abu Dhabi Combat Club was created in 1998 by Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the son of the U.A.E.’s founder. The club spawned the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship, an international martial arts event.
More:
Ossama Khoreibi, Chairman of Flash Entertainment, commented, “Since our very first meeting, we were impressed by Lorenzo, Frank and Dana’s commitment to growing UFC as a global sport.” He continued, “Flash is equally committed to building Abu Dhabi’s profile as an international entertainment destination, and this partnership provides further proof of our company’s bold ambitions. We look forward to an exciting future ahead, working closely with our UFC partners to activate this sport in the UAE, the region and across the world.”
The Raine Group acted as financial advisor to Flash Entertainment. Goldman Sachs served as UFC’s financial advisor.
Um, FYI, Mr. Khoreibi, “global” means every country in the world, including Israel. There are many top Israeli martial arts champs. What happens when one of them earns the right to compete in the UAE, and Abu Dhabi won’t grant him a visa? Will UFC say nothing the way the entire international tennis community (except Andy Roddick) says nothing when Israeli tennis players are excluded?
It’s gonna happen. Bet on it.
Tags: Abu Dhabi, Flash Entertainment, Goldman Sachs, Lorenzo J. Fertitta, Ossama Khoreibi, Raine Group, Sheikh Zayed Al-Nahyan, UAE, UFC, Ultimate Fighting Championship, United Arab Emirates, Zayed Center, Zuffa LLC
I could see early on in the growth of the UFC/WCF that these guys were sellouts. They are predators who frankly are unaware of these kinds of issues. Even if they were they would likely table any principles when the money is waved in their faces. Not really surprising.
JLin on January 12, 2010 at 1:57 pm