Editor’s note: This article was written by Chris Smith and first appeared in Sports Business Journal, the industry’s leading source of sports business news, events and data.

The launch of TKO Group Holdings was the monumental merger of UFC and WWE, valued at a combined $21 billion. But Andrew Schleimer, who has transitioned from CFO of UFC to the same role with TKO, has instead focused on similarities to when Endeavor first acquired UFC for $4 billion seven years ago. The MMA promotion has tripled in value since then, and Shcleimer expects TKO, which he referred to as “UFC 2.0,” can now pursue a similar strategy.

“We have the playbook, and we benefit now from seven years of integration into Endeavor. So on the back office side, we’ve done this. And on the top line, we’ve done this before,” said Schleimer. “It’s very clear we have the ability to create more content. We have our live events, can expand sponsorship opportunities, expand licensing opportunities.”

Though TKO now exists outside Endeavor, the agency remains its largest shareholder with a 51% controlling interest. Schleimer insisted the new business will continue to benefit from the Endeavor “flywheel” of subsidiaries that can provide services for ticket sales, operations, licensing and more.

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In terms of financial operations, Schleimer highlighted how synergies between UFC and WWE, particularly as live event businesses, will lead to some natural revenue gains. “A meaningful area for growth for both UFC and WWE are site fees, and getting local municipalities or tourism boards to bring live events into certain markets,” he said. “Imagine a scenario where you can program an entire weekend, where you have a WWE live event on a Friday and a UFC live event on a Saturday, and that’s a package of content.”

Speculation over TKO’s media rights strategy has been rampant, especially with WWE’s current deals with Fox and NBC expiring next year and UFC’s rights agreement with ESPN ending in 2025. Speaking to Sports Business Journal last week, WWE President Nick Khan pointed to the recent bidding war between ESPN and NBC parent Comcast for the 21st Century Fox assets. “It does make one wonder how this might look down the road as both companies and as TKO enters into these negotiations,” Khan said. “We think ratings, relevancy and revenue for both properties are off the charts.”

In terms of bottom-line benefits, Schleimer added that the company will quickly be able to shed some $50 million to $100 million in expenses by streamlining overlapping functions, specifically in the areas of human resources, finance and information technology. More long-term, he said the TKO team is looking for further efficiencies in marketing, international infrastructure and data and analytics.

Multiple analysts have suggested TKO’s cost-savings estimates are actually conservative, and Guggenheim Securities last week issued a stock price target of $130, or around 30% higher than the $100.76 close price last Thursday, based in part on estimated revenue gains of some $200 million for the combined operation.

Debt has been a major focus for Endeavor since going public two years ago, and in spinning off UFC it has also offloaded the MMA promotion’s $2.7 billion in term loans onto TKO. Schleimer said he’s unconcerned with the company’s current leverage.

“We’re roughly mid two-times net leverage, and that is a very comfortable place to be, particularly given the meaningful cash flow generative nature of this business,” said Schleimer.