Tony Khan, the co-owner of AEW wrestling, was recently linked to being interested in buying Bellator but he says that is not true.
Bellator has reportedly been on the market for a few months and recently, it was revealed the PFL was interested in buying them. Yet, MMA journalist Ariel Helwani revealed on The MMA Hour that the Khan family is one of the frontrunners to buy the Viacom-owned promotion.
After Helwani’s comments, Tony Khan was asked about buying Bellator which he shut down quickly.
“I was surprised to see that report. I haven’t had any conversations with them about that, so I don’t know what that was about. My father hasn’t had any conversations with them either” Khan said about buying Bellator. “I’m not even sure who you talked to. I don’t even know, honestly, who owns the promotion. Is Scott Coker the owner? Or the President? I’m not sure.
“I’m familiar with Bellator. I’m familiar with MMA and have never worked professionally in the space, other than having some stars from UFC appear at times in AEW. But, I saw that report and yeah there’s really nothing too that. I’m not sure where that rumor got started. But, obviously, it’s an interesting time in the MMA business, just as it’s a very interesting time in the pro wrestling business with a lot of things happening,” Khan continued.
Tony Khan takes aim at Ariel Helwani
After he responded to the comments, Tony Khan asked if it was something Ariel Helwani reported which people confirmed. After they confirmed it, he then took aim at the MMA journalist for being wrong in his reporting.
“Was that something Ariel Helwani reported?” Khan asked. “Okay, well it would not be the first inaccurate thing Ariel Helwani has reported. That is completely inaccurate, but that’s Ariel Helwani for you.”
Whether or not the Khan family is actually interested or was interested in buying Bellator is uncertain. At this point, however, Khan says he’s focused on AEW and not interested in buying Bellator.
