UFC has come a long way since it started as a renegade fighting league with knockout tournaments and no weight classes. Now, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and mixed martial arts as a whole, is the premier combat sport on the planet.
UFC cemented that status with a new $7.7 billion deal with Paramount Global that will see fights air both on the Paramount+ streaming platform and select events being aired on network television on CBS.
As the deal with Paramount gets underway, UFC is closing a significant chapter in their story as partners with ESPN. UFC first came to ESPN as a key product with pay per views serving as one of the pillars of ESPN+. As soon as UFC came to ESPN in 2019, it led to massive amounts of signups for the platform. And as ESPN put more and more eggs into the streaming basket, UFC remained one of those pillars.
However, the ESPN era came to an end last weekend with the UFC on ESPN 73 event. At the close of the broadcast, the fighting league aired this tribute to their longtime network partners.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gW_8VyQp0Jk
According to MMA Junkie, UFC aired 294 live events over their seven years together as well as multiple specials and series like The Ultimate Fighter.
ESPN helped to further bring UFC into the mainstream with regular coverage. But even though they wanted to stay in business with the promotion, ultimately the massive rights fee offered by Paramount was too sweet of a deal to turn down for Dana White and company.
But as the tribute video shows, they certainly view their time with ESPN fondly as it helped to move the promotion even further forward. And given those good vibes and progress made, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the two sides do business again further on down the road.
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