8 Most Powerful People In MMA
1. Ari Emanuel
Within a span of months, Ari Emanuel went from a figure virtually unknown to most MMA fans, to the most powerful man in the business.
Why? Because WME-IMG bought the UFC. And Ari Emanuel runs WME-IMG. Its co-CEO, he can be seen as the newly crowned king of the sport. He was called "one of the biggest guns" in the entertainment business by Fortune magazine, and was the inspiration for the Ari Gold character on Entourage.
In essence, he's Dana White's boss, and possibly the only man with more power than White himself when it comes to the UFC. Thus far, fighters have had mixed feelings on the new ownership group, but those who have met Emanuel seem to speak highly of him.
He also helped broker a deal that saw a number of A-list celebrities, including Sly Stallone, Conan O'Brien, the Williams Sisters, Jimmy Kimmel, Mark Whalberg, and others buy into the UFC, pushing it further into the mainstream.
With a massive entertainment company under him, Emanuel has the power to make the UFC even bigger than it is today.