Nakisa Bidarian

Did You Know?

• Bidarian oversaw the $4 billion sale of the UFC to WME-IMG on July 11, 2016.
• He negotiated Jake Paul's first boxing fight against AnEsonGib, improving Paul's initial offer from $500,000 to a higher amount.

Career

Bidarian began working for the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2011 as chief strategy officer for business ventures, having built a relationship with Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta through his work at Mubadala Investment Company. In January 2016, after four years with the UFC, he was named its chief financial officer. On July 11, 2016, WME-IMG (later renamed Endeavor) acquired the UFC from Fertitta Capital, a transaction Bidarian oversaw. Between 2016 and 2019, he continued at Fertitta Capital as chief executive officer.

In 2019, a friend introduced Bidarian to Jake Paul, who made a strong first impression; Bidarian later told The Independent, "It was clear Jake was different [from other influencers]." He negotiated a fight for Paul with fellow YouTuber AnEsonGib, vastly improving upon the initial $500,000 offer Paul had received. Later in 2019, Bidarian temporarily parted ways with Paul after Paul posted videos attacking Conor McGregor and Dana White—whom Bidarian considered friends—and because Bidarian viewed Paul as insufficiently focused on boxing.

In 2020, Triller hired him as executive producer for their Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. exhibition boxing broadcast. Bidarian reached out to Paul, offering $500k for an undercard fight (without informing Paul he would be fighting prior to Tyson) and $10m for his subsequent fight, believing Paul would demand more money than Triller had approved had Paul known Tyson was also on the card. In 2021, Bidarian formally partnered with Paul, insisting he was not a manager, saying "Marcos Guerrero manages Jake’s life.

I’m Jake’s adviser." Later in 2021, they founded Most Valuable Promotions, stating goals to be "fighter-first, focus on young athletes, and position women’s boxers as equal to men." Alongside Paul, Bidarian promoted the trilogy between Amanda Serrano (signed to MVP) and Katie Taylor (signed to Matchroom Boxing), described by Reuters as 'historic'; the first bout was the first women's boxing match to reach a purse over seven figures. In 2024, Bidarian and MVP promoted the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson professional boxing match, which received 65 million simultaneous viewers.

The event faced controversy due to the age difference being the largest in any professionally sanctioned match and due to buffering issues on Netflix. Bidarian and Paul also co-founded sports betting company Betr.

Personal life

Bidarian was born on January 12, 1978 in Iran and was raised in various countries after his family left Iran due to the Iran–Iraq War. As a child, he lived in the UK, Canada, and the USA, but left New York City, saying he didn't enjoy living there because "it felt like everyone there was hustling" and that "I like money [...] but I’m not a hustler." He married Australian fashion model Vanessa Milde on August 31, 2015, and they have one child, who was expected in June 2016.