This summer held no shortage of talking points for the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Ilia Topuria continued his unbelievable rise to superstardom, Islam Makhachev was officially booked for his chance at welterweight gold in November and Khamzat Chimaev finally claimed a UFC championship.
However, no news exceeded UFC’s new partnership with Paramount.
Rumors had swirled for months as the UFC sought a new streaming home after six years with ESPN.
Dana White was characteristically vague about the deal for months, as some fans hoped for a partnership with Netflix or a different streaming giant that would possibly see the end of the pay-per-view model.
In the end, White announced the UFC had signed a staggering seven-year, $7.7 billion deal with Paramount on Aug. 11, set to take effect in 2026.
The agreement will eliminate the pay-per-view system that the UFC has used since its inception. Instead, a monthly subscription will provide access to every event.
The payoff under Paramount
For fans, the deal is great news — the cost to keep up under ESPN was high.
A yearly ESPN+ subscription to watch Fight Nights and the prelims of numbered events costs $120. Every numbered event is capped with an $80 pay-per-view, and with 13 such events each year, the cost to watch every fight totals more than $1000.
And it’s no secret that a significant portion of the UFC’s fans resort to pirated streams for pay-per-view events.
In 2020, The Athletic surveyed MMA fans and found that nearly 40% of respondents watch numbered events through a pirated stream, while just over a third purchase the events.
The price of a pay-per-view has increased by $15 since 2020. As younger generations grow fond of the sport, there’s a growing number of fans who aren’t willing or able to fork over $80 a month for five fights.
Mark Shapiro, president of TKO Group Holdings, which owns UFC, told Forbes he knew the cost had “gotten out of control,” when asked about the pivot from pay-per-view.
It’s unclear if Paramount will incorporate the UFC into the current subscription plans or create another slightly more expensive plan, but either solution should ease the stress on fans’ wallets.
The agreement will bring benefits to the fighters as well, possibly solving the issue of fighter pay that has plagued the UFC for years.
Former heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou demanded universal health care and sponsorship deals for athletes before being released from the UFC when the two parties couldn’t agree on a contract.
Artem Vakhitov — who defeated Alex Pereira in kickboxing in 2021 — declined his Dana White’s Contender Series contract because the pay wasn’t sufficient.
In Vakhitov’s case, he had a lucrative deal with Glory Kickboxing to fall back on. Most other fighters have to take the standard entry-level contract of $12,000 to show up on fight day, and another $12,000 if they win.
Factor in taxes, as well as coaching and gym fees, and many UFC fighters take home surprisingly low paydays.
White has confirmed bonuses will be seeing an increase, and hopefully, base pay follows soon after.
The end of the ESPN experiment
The UFC’s tumultuous six-year tenure with ESPN will officially come to an end in December.
It is the promotion’s first foray into using a streaming service to televise fights — events had previously aired on networks like Fox or Spike TV.
What began as revolutionary soon soured, as price hikes and an aging pay-per-view model left fans looking for fresher options.
Riyadh Season, which hosts most major boxing events, will remove the pay-per-view system entirely in November.
Jake Paul’s boxing match with Mike Tyson was the first boxing “mega-event” to air on Netflix.
The event drew more than 108 million live viewers, so Netflix was quick to secure the rights to Canelo vs. Crawford, which could potentially break viewership records.
Dana White promoted Canelo vs. Crawford, so it’s not surprising that he wants the UFC to take after boxing, having experienced the successes firsthand.
2026 is poised to be a big year for the UFC. Hopefully, with more than a billion dollars to work with, it delivers.