The UFC has secured a huge new broadcasting deal with Paramount, signing a 7-year contract worth an incredible $7.7 billion, which starts in 2026. This move comes after the promotion’s partnership with ESPN fell apart in recent years, mainly due to low pay-per-view numbers and major streaming outages during events like UFC 304 and UFC 313. Earlier this month, reports confirmed that ESPN was never seriously considered for a renewal, as the MMA juggernaut was unhappy with the existing $500 million per year agreement.
For a long time, many believed Netflix would land the rights. After all, the streaming giant already struck a 10-year deal to broadcast WWE’s Monday Night Raw, a flagship show for UFC’s sister company under the TKO banner. Netflix did enter negotiations with the UFC, but the talks ultimately collapsed at the final stage over a single sticking point.
TKO Head Reveals Netflix Only Wanted UFC’s Numbered Pay-Per-View Cards
In a recent appearance on The Varsity podcast, TKO president and COO Mark Shapiro confirmed that talks with Netflix were serious, but ultimately fell apart because the streamer wasn’t interested in carrying all of the UFC’s events.
“Even though we had a lot of different interested parties, not everybody was writing a big check,” Shapiro revealed.
He added, “So we knew it was going to take a lot of time to ultimately get the numbers up there. I would tell you the moment, there was one moment of disappointment, and that was when we were getting pretty close with Netflix, frankly.”
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The main sticking point was that Netflix only wanted UFC’s numbered pay-per-view events, which have much deeper cards compared to the typical Fight Night shows at the UFC Apex.
Netflix had no interest in the Fight Night schedule and would have done away with the traditional pay-per-view model altogether, instead placing UFC’s biggest cards behind its standard subscription paywall. TKO, however, wanted to bundle Fight Nights with the numbered events.
As Shapiro explained, “They kind of stood by the fact that they didn’t want to have the volume, which we understood from the get-go.”
The TKO COO further added, “We’re [Netflix] looking for big events so the fact that you could give us one pay-per-view, which they were just going to put on the platform for free as long as you’re a subscriber, as long as you just give us that, we’re in and we’ll pay premium for it, but we don’t want to carry the other 30 Fight Nights.”
Netflix’s stance wasn’t surprising. The company has typically leaned toward broadcasting big, one-off spectacles like Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson or its NFL deal, which currently covers just two Christmas Day games.
CEO Ted Sarandos has also made it clear to investors that Netflix is only focused on marquee events like Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson last year, which is why the once-a-month UFC numbered pay-per-view model appealed to them, and the weekly Fight Night schedule did not.
While Netflix’s global reach of over 300 million subscribers made it a strong candidate, splitting the UFC’s programming between platforms wasn’t something TKO wanted. “Over the course of conversations, they really didn’t come off of that,” Shapiro said. “That’s what opened the door for Paramount/CBS.”
For the unversed, Dana White has already teased a packed calendar for 2026: 44 UFC events, plus 14 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu cards, 16–18 boxing shows under Zuffa Boxing, and possibly double the number of Contender Series events. In the end, the Paramount deal is a win for fans as well.
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Fight nerds in the United States won’t have to shell out $80 per event anymore or deal with ESPN’s frequent streaming issues. Instead, they will get access through Paramount+ at just $13 per month, a price point that could not only attract new subscribers but also pull in fans who had turned to piracy because of the old pay-per-view costs.
