Tony & Shad Khan reportedly showed interest in buying Bellator MMA
The Khan family was reportedly interested in adding a new combat sports player to their growing sports portfolio.
On Wednesday’s MMA Hour, Ariel Helwani said that Shad and Tony Khan were one of several groups that have shown interest in purchasing Bellator MMA from Paramount Global who purchased majority ownership in December 2011 when they were called Viacom.
Helwani said he was unclear to what degree the Khans were, or still are, interested. The family owns AEW, the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Fulham soccer club among other companies.
While not formally announced, it has been known in the MMA industry that Bellator MMA is for sale with the Professional Fighters League (PFL) as the group most interested. Helwani noted PFL initially backed out and then got back into the mix several weeks ago, possibly tied into new investment money that will be revealed over the next few weeks or months.
Bellator head Scott Coker and PFL head Rey Sefo acknowledged the talks this past weekend.
Helwani said Liberty Media, an investment group that also was interested in buying WWE, has also shown interest.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.