They bought it for $2 million. And then poured time and money into getting it considered a legitimate sport, spun off a reality show, promoted it's stars, and cranked out the merchandise. Branding 101, etc.
These new owners are in a position to make buckets of money. There online subscription service FightPass is apparently super popular and I could see a new tier being added they would include the PPV cards for $30 or $40 a month. I hope Joe Rogan stays as a commentator even though he has said he will leave if the company sell's.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Henderson#Mixed_martial_ar... [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronaldo_Souza#Mixed_martial_ar...
Unfortunately whenever this is mentioned, fanboys like to argue that it comes down to selling tickets etc., which is true unless you care about the sport and its integrity. As a martial artist I would much rather have an unpopular tournament that stays true to its core values for the sake of promoting the sport as an art form, even if this means that the champion will have the most boring style of fighting (in fact, if there ever is a champion that has a boring style that would indeed be interesting).