UFC at the present days

Response to the UFC brand of MMA has been tremendous, resulting in a growing fan base that has grown exponentially through the years.

Recently, a UFC event in Anaheim attracted more than 17,000 people—the largest audience ever to witness a UFC event. Since then, UFC popularity continues to reach new heights as the third season of the hit reality series The Ultimate Fighter® delivered record ratings for the Spike TV cable network.

Just recently, the UFC organization and Spike TV extended its two-year strategic partnership through 2008 to present four additional seasons of hit reality series The Ultimate Fighter, as well as ten live Ultimate Fight Night™ events and 26 taped programs of UFC: Unleashed™.

The UFC organization is regulated and recognized by the world’s most prestigious sports regulatory bodies including the California, Nevada and New Jersey State Athletic Commissions. The new UFC organization strives for the highest levels of safety and quality in all aspects of the sport.

In March 2006, the UFC announced that it had hired Marc Ratner, former Executive Director of the Nevada Athletic Commission, as Vice President. Ratner, once an ally of Senator McCain's campaign against mixed martial arts, was credited as one person responsible for the emergence of sanctioned mixed martial arts in the United States. Ratner is expected to help raise the UFC's media profile and help legalize mixed martial arts in jurisdictions inside and outside the United States that do not sanction mixed martial arts bouts.

The UFC continued its rapid rise: from near obscurity in 2005, to gracing the covers of Sports Illustrated and ESPN The Magazine in May 2007.[26] UFC programming is now shown in 36 countries worldwide,[27] and the UFC plans to continue expanding internationally, running shows regularly in Canada and the United Kingdom, with an office established in the UK aimed to expand the European UFC audience.[28]

On March 27, 2007 The UFC and Pride Fighting Championships announced an agreement in which the majority owners of the UFC, Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, would purchase the Pride brand.[29][30] Initial intentions were for both organizations to be separately run but aligned together and there were plans to co-promote supercards featuring champions and top contenders from both organizations. Comments by Dana White indicated that the Pride brand would likely fold and many former Pride fighters were already being realigned under the UFC brand.[31] On October 4, 2007, Pride Worldwide closed its Japanese office, laying off 20 people who were working there since the closing of DSE.[32]

In December 2006, WEC became a sister organization to UFC, after being bought by Zuffa. The WEC hosts the lighter weight classes in MMA, whereas the UFC tends to focus on the heavier weight classes.[33]

In 2008, the UFC continue to expand to the mainstream by announcing two major exclusive sponsorship deals with Harley-Davidson[34] and Anheuser-Busch InBev,[35] making the brewer's Bud Light the official and exclusive beer sponsor of the UFC.

On June 18, 2008, Lorenzo Fertitta announced his resignation from Station Casinos in order to devote his energies to the international business development of Zuffa, particularly the UFC. Under the strong leadership of owners Lorenzo Fertitta and Frank Fertitta III, and expertise of President Dana White , the UFC brand continues to thrive across a spectrum of live event sports, television production and ancillary business development.