As a combat sports fan, catching the latest fights can be well—expensive. In between paid subscriptions and PPV prices, combat sports fans can pay upwards of $100+ a month to catch the biggest and best fights. But fear not, there’s hope! There are several options to watch some of the leading combat sports promotions throughout the world for free (or almost free) without having to go to a sketchy streaming website.
Best Ways to Watch Combat Sports for FREE (or almost free)
Boxing
One of the harder-to-find free platforms in the world of combat sports is boxing. Showtime Championship Boxing and PBC require a monthly subscription to Showtime to watch, plus if you want to watch a PPV, there is an additional fee. Top Rank Boxing can only be watched with a paid subscription to ESPN+ or FITE+. Mainstream, elite level boxing competition can be hard to come by with a $0 price tag; however, there are some ways to make the most out of your money when wanting to watch the big fights.
Showtime offers a free month trial when first signing up and you can cancel before the first monthly bill of $10.99 hits your account. Fite.tv offers a seven-day free trial when signing up for their premium subscription FITE+, in which you can cancel anytime. Fite.tv also offers a reward program for loyal customers in which they may earn credits towards PPV events to use in exchange for monetary payment.
In terms of mid-level boxing events, there are some streamed live and free on YouTube—you just have to snoop around. FIGHTSTARS.tv hosts live and free events on their website as well as their YouTube channel.
In terms of bare-knuckle boxing, Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship airs its prelims live and free on YouTube. BKFC’s next event, Knuckle Mania 2, takes place this weekend in Hollywood, Florida. The main card, which can only be accessed via a subscription to BKTV (its only $5/month!) or Fite.tv, features a middleweight showdown between Mike Perry and Julian Lane and two championship fights.
MMA
Just like boxing, many premier MMA organizations make sure to slap a price tag on their products. The UFC has multiple subscription platforms including UFC Fight Pass and ESPN+ to watch UFC Fight Nights and of course pay-per-views that cost a staggering $74.99 each. Bellator events can only be accessed via a subscription to Showtime. Considering this, there are still options to catch some fights for free.
Bellator offers fight fans prelim fights live and free prior to their main card action via YouTube. Canadian fans can enjoy complete ONE Championship events live and free on YouTube along with 149 other countries. In the US, fan can access ONE Championship events live and free via the Bleacher Report YouTube channel or the Bleacher Report app. The up-and-coming MMA promotion XMMA offers its events live and free on YouTube.
Sumo
The world’s premier professional sumo organization, Grand Sumo, is free to watch via the NHK WORLD channel. The March 2022 hanbasho will take place from March 13th-27th. English speaking viewers can watch an abbreviated version of each tournament day along with the help of an English commentary team. Grand Sumo highlights are also available on NHK’s website.
Other Combat Sports
With a free subscription to fite.tv, combat sports fans can enjoy kickboxing, muay Thai, and professional karate Kyokushin fights via the organization Senshi. There is a variety of free muay Thai organizations that provide free events that are streamed live on YouTube. One of the premier organizations is MAX Muay Thai.
