8 Most Shocking UFC Plans That Almost Happened

After amassing a curious audience interested in seeing whether no holds barred fights could really be as lawlessly extreme as they were promoted as being during the early years, the UFC struggled to maintain its audience as tighter political sanctions forced a move towards a more regulated sport.

By the time the millennium came and went, the company that had founded the UFC and operated it in its wild-west years, Semaphore Entertainment Group was in dire financial straits.

SEG was close to bankruptcy and started looking into the possibility of a buyout.

Dana White and the Fertitta brothers would come to the rescue in 2001, but the company still floundered in the years that followed and, before the first season of The Ultimate Fighter aired, it appeared there was not a profitable future in store for the UFC, and once again the possibility of the sale of the company arose.

In the years since it has been revealed that Shane McMahon has been interested in purchasing the company on more than one occasion, even reportedly asking Vince to do it in 2005 before the revival of ECW.

However, given that the McMahon family don't have the best track records of maintaining businesses other than the flagship wrestling brand, its probably for the best that this alternate history scenario didn't take place.