UFC is not an independent publicly traded company, but you can invest in it through TKO Group Holdings, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol TKO. TKO is the parent company that owns both UFC and WWE, making it one of the largest pure-play sports and entertainment stocks available to investors.
How UFC Became Part of a Public Company
On September 12, 2023, Endeavor Group Holdings and World Wrestling Entertainment completed a merger that combined UFC and WWE into a single new entity called TKO Group Holdings. TKO began trading on the NYSE that same day. At launch, Endeavor held a 51% controlling interest in TKO, with existing WWE shareholders holding the remaining 49% on a fully diluted basis.
Before the merger, UFC operated as a subsidiary of Endeavor (ticker: EDR), which was itself publicly traded. WWE had its own standalone listing on the NYSE under the ticker WWE. The creation of TKO consolidated both organizations under one roof, giving investors direct exposure to the two biggest combat sports and sports entertainment brands in the world through a single stock.
What TKO Group Holdings Actually Owns
TKO’s corporate structure is straightforward. According to SEC filings, its subsidiaries include UFC Holdings, LLC and Zuffa, LLC (the original legal entity behind UFC), along with the WWE business. The company operates two reportable business segments: UFC and WWE, plus a corporate group that handles shared overhead like legal, finance, IT, and investor relations.
UFC’s revenue comes from media rights fees for distributing its programming, ticket sales and site fees from live events around the world, sponsorship deals, and licensing agreements for UFC-branded consumer products. WWE generates revenue from the same categories. Both segments report their financials separately in TKO’s quarterly and annual SEC filings, so investors can see how each brand is performing on its own.
How to Invest in UFC
If you want to own a piece of UFC, you buy shares of TKO Group Holdings (ticker: TKO) through any brokerage account. The stock is listed on the NYSE as Class A Common Stock. There is no way to buy shares of UFC alone, since UFC is a wholly owned subsidiary rather than its own publicly traded entity. Your investment in TKO gives you exposure to both UFC and WWE together.
Keep in mind that Endeavor holds a controlling interest in TKO, which means the majority of voting power sits with Endeavor’s leadership. As a Class A shareholder, you participate in the company’s financial performance, but major strategic decisions ultimately flow through the controlling stakeholder. This is a common structure for media and entertainment companies where a parent organization retains operational control after taking a subsidiary public.
Tracking UFC’s Financial Performance
TKO files a Form 10-K (annual report) and Form 10-Q (quarterly report) with the SEC, and both documents break out revenue and adjusted EBITDA for the UFC and WWE segments individually. This means you can track UFC’s financial health in detail even though it’s bundled into a larger company. You’ll find these filings on the SEC’s EDGAR database or on TKO’s investor relations page at investor.tkogrp.com.
The segment reporting covers media rights revenue, live event income, sponsorship dollars, and consumer product licensing for each brand. If you’re evaluating TKO as an investment primarily because of UFC, the segment data lets you assess whether UFC’s growth trajectory justifies the stock price without having to guess how much of TKO’s overall numbers come from each side of the business.