Garry Cook hails “magnificent experience” after becoming latest UFC bigshot to leave company

There are no signs of the bloodletting at the top of the Ultimate Fighting Championship stopping just yet.

After the promotion was bought out by WME/IMG, there has been much change at the top of the company, with many of the 60-80 job projected losses out of a total of 350 coming at executive level. Former Manchester City chief executive Garry Cook is set to follow the Fertitta brothers, Joe Silva and Dave Sholler out of the company in the wake of the $4.2 billion takeover. It was announced Tuesday that Cook, the company's chief global brand officer, will leave along with Marshall Zelaznik, Ken Berger, and Jaime Pollack. Joining in 2012 as Europe, Middle East and Africa managing director, Cook was promoted two years after playing a crucial role in expanding the company globally.

"This has been a magnificent experience with one of the greatest sports enterprises of the modern day," he said in a statement released on Tuesday. "I am thankful and proud to have played a part in their brand story working with Lorenzo Fertitta, Dana White, Lawrence Epstein and all the talented individuals at the UFC. "With the new leadership from WME/IMG the next era of continuing to redefine the global sports landscape is very exciting. I wish them well delivering on their vision for success."

Back in Manchester for UFC 204 earlier this month, Cook gave little indication his time at the promotion was coming to an end, speaking to the Sun about his plans to expand the business into Asia. “We’re not even opened up in Russia – never had an event in Russia. Khabib’s one of the big fighters coming out of Russia. There’s a lot of talent there. “You start to look at China, you start to look at the Asian markets. Like any other global business, there’s nothing wrong with continuing your international growth," he said on returning to the city where he made his name as a sports executive. Having previously worked at Nike, Cook was hired as Manchester City's chief executive in 2008 by Thaksin Shinawatra. He kept his position after Sheikh Mansour's takeover but resigned in 2011 following an email scandal involving the mother of Nedum Onuoha. Cook denied sending the defender's cancer-suffering mother an email that read: "Ravaged with it!!...I don't know how you sleep at night. You used to be such a nice man when I worked with you at Nike. G". However he offered his resignation after a club investigation found "there is foundation" to the allegations. Catch up with the latest episode of Football Friday Live