Combat & UFC
Kevin Kay recalls Viacom considered buying Bellator to outdo UFC
The Ariel Helwani Show
Fury-AJ Presser Reax, Aljamain Sterling, Alexander Hernandez, Khaos Williams, Kevin Kay | 9/30/26
What was said
""Philippe really believed at the time that we had to like show up the UFC. Like we had to buy another promotion and that we could own it and then we could show up the UFC. And I was like, it just ain't that easy, guys, right? It just ain't that easy.""
Kevin Kay says Viacom leaders discussed buying another MMA promotion, naming Bellator, as the UFC was leaving the network. He says then-CEO Philippe Dauman argued owning a rival promotion would help them outdo the UFC, but Kay cautioned it would not be simple.
Verification status
Attributed speaker claim
Egleze verified who said this and where. The underlying claim has not been independently established by Egleze.
Source and context
Egleze verified who said this and where. The underlying claim has not been independently established by Egleze.
- Speaker
- Kevin Kay · guest
- Programme
- The Ariel Helwani Show
- Episode
- Fury-AJ Presser Reax, Aljamain Sterling, Alexander Hernandez, Khaos Williams, Kevin Kay | 9/30/26
- Clip time
- 3:29:06
- Original source
- Watch the source segment →
From this episode
The Ariel Helwani Show