Paramount+ deal brings new eyes to the sport
It is a new era for the UFC as they have struck a seven-year $7.7 billion contract with Paramount+ to make their platform the official home of the UFC for the foreseeable future.
The contract gives Paramount the rights to the entire UFC catalog which entails nearly every previous impactful fight, The Ultimate Fighter reality show, The Dana White Contender Series, Slap, UFC BJJ, Zuffa Boxing, every live UFC fight night and the most important one of them – every numbered UFC card will be streamed absolutely free on the platform. With the deal, the Pay-Per-View (PPV) model is essentially dead, the massive paywall for UFC events outpriced the average fan and was the major gripe with the sport for a very long time as the PPV model is becoming a thing of the past.
Now instead of paying $80 dollars a month to buy a card fans simply must pay their Paramount+ subscription to gain access to all of their favorite content. This move to Paramount was essential for the growth of the sport because what was seen as a niche sport will now attract more eyes than ever.
The first card on the platform saw stars like ‘Suga’ Sean O’Malley take on China’s Song ‘The Kung Fu Kid’ Yadong in the co-main event, with the main event featuring legend of the sport Justin ‘The Highlight’ Gaethje taking on British superstar Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett for the Interim UFC Lightweight Championship.
The card peaked at an astounding 5,930,000 concurrent viewers bringing the sport numbers it has never seen before in the history of the sport. Another huge gripe with the sport has and always will be fighter pay, but with the new deal fighters will now see a $25,000 finish bonus and a $100,000 fight of the night bonus which is double what it was before.
In my own opinion this deal was exactly what the sport needed to truly elevate. In June the UFC is making its way to the nation’s capital for a numbered card right on the White House lawn, this event is sure to be something nobody has ever seen before and break some of the highest view records. I grew up a huge football fan but in the past five years the UFC has now taken over as my favorite sport and is something I’m truly passionate about, so seeing these fighters get the attention they deserve from a larger audience makes me beyond happy. The UFC is the premiere combat sport in the year 2026 and with this Paramount deal they will only continue to increase their already massive fanbase.