UFC Ditches Pay-Per-View Release Model — How to Watch Matches Starting in 2026

UFC fans won’t have to dish out extra bucks to watch matches starting next year.

It was announced on Monday, August 11, that Paramount has acquired the streaming and broadcast rights to UFC, which is owned by TKO Group, for seven years starting in 2026, per multiple outlets. The $7.7 billion deal ($1.1 billion per year) includes all of UFC’s 13 marquee events and 30 “Fight Nights.”

The new deal also marks the end of UFC being accessed via pay-per-view, as all matches will be streamed in the U.S. on Paramount+ at no additional cost. Select events will also air simultaneously on CBS. ESPN+’s current pay-per-view partnership with UFC expires at the end of this year.

“The pay-per-view model is a thing of the past,” Mark Shapiro, President and Chief Operating Officer of TKO Group, said of the deal, per CNBC. “What’s on pay-per-view anymore? Boxing? Movies on DirecTV? It’s an outdated, antiquated model. So, it was paramount to us – forgive the pun – where it’s one-stop shopping, especially for our younger fans in flyover states. When they find out, ‘Wait, if I just sign up for Paramount+ for $12.99 a month, I’m going to automatically get UFC’s numbered fights and the rest of the portfolio?’ That’s a message we want to amplify.”

Paramount CEO David Ellison added in a Monday statement, “Paramount’s advantage lies in the expansive reach of our linear and streaming platforms. Live sports continue to be a cornerstone of our broader strategy — driving engagement, subscriber growth, and long-term loyalty, and the addition of UFC’s year-round must-watch events to our platforms is a major win,” per ESPN.

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According to CNBC, Paramount is also interested in buying the rights to international UFC matches, which are currently available in over 210 countries. The company will reportedly have a 30-day exclusive window to negotiate for each country’s UFC rights once they are up for renewal.

“We could not be more excited about this,” Ellison told the New York Times in a phone interview. “From my perspective, the U.F.C. is really a unicorn sports asset.”

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Paramount’s UFC deal comes shortly after the company completed its $8 billion merger with Skydance. “Today marks an exciting and pivotal moment as we prepare to bring Paramount’s legacy as a Hollywood institution into the future of entertainment,” Ellison said in a statement earlier this month, per the AP. “[I aim to] honor exceptional storytelling while modernizing how we make and deliver content.”

The merger was approved shortly after Paramount settled a $16 million lawsuit with Donald Trump last month. He previously accused 60 Minutes of deceptively editing a 2024 interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris. The Late Show With Stephen Colbert was canceled in the wake of the settlement, leading some to speculate the case played a part in the cancellation, though CBS stated the decision was purely financial.

Trump, for his part, denied any involvement in The Late Show‘s cancellation. “Everybody is saying that I was solely responsible for the firing of Stephen Colbert from CBS, Late Night. That is not true!” he wrote via Truth Social on July 29. “The reason he was fired was a pure lack of TALENT, and the fact that this deficiency was costing CBS $50 Million Dollars a year in losses — And it was only going to get WORSE!”