Well, well, well… It looks like Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) wants to get a little more violent! TNT Sports CEO Luis Silberwasser has officially put it out there—UFC is on their radar. That’s right, folks, WBD is apparently interested in adding the real punch-and-kick sport to their lineup, because according to Silberwasser, AEW just isn’t combat sports enough.
Now, let’s break this down: WBD already has All Elite Wrestling under contract for at least another four years, with shows like Dynamite and Collision airing weekly on TBS, TNT, and even streaming on Max. But apparently, scripted chair shots and flippy-dos aren’t quite scratching that combat sports itch.
“AEW is not combat sports—it’s sort of a hybrid between entertainment and sports,” Silberwasser explained. Which is corporate-speak for, “Yeah, those guys throw punches, but no one’s actually getting concussed (on purpose).”
Of course, there’s a massive elephant in the room: UFC’s next media deal could reach $1 BILLION per year. And while WBD wants UFC, they also don’t want to spend too much money. So, unless WBD has been secretly digging into Tony Khan’s bottomless vault of wrestling funds, they might have a hard time outbidding ESPN—or even Netflix, which is rumored to be making a play for UFC rights as well.
If WBD does land UFC, they’d have both AEW and WWE’s parent company, TKO, under their umbrella, which would make them the ultimate combat sports powerhouse. But until a deal is done, we’re left with the big question: Can WBD afford UFC? Or will AEW just have to start throwing real punches to keep things interesting?
Stay tuned, folks. Because if this deal falls through, expect AEW’s next big announcement to include legally questionable cage fights.