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At Long Last, UFC Pay-Per-View is Disappearing Entirely
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Unexpected news here, folks:
The good news, obviously, is that you’re no longer going to have to pay out the wazoo for PPV, or go to a bar to watch it, or look for an illegal stream. Not that any of us know anything about illegal streams, but we’ve heard of those before.
It’s a deal that kicks in at the beginning of 2026:
Under the deal, Paramount will exclusively distribute the UFC’s full slate of its 13 marquee numbered events and 30 “Fight Nights” on its streaming platform, Paramount+ — with select numbered events also set to simulcast on CBS — starting in 2026.
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UFC events currently air on ESPN — which has offered tiered pricing for fans to view content across the sports network’s TV offerings and streaming platform ESPN+ since 2019. UFC’s partnership with Disney-owned ESPN runs through the end of 2025.
The bad news is that you have to buy another streaming service. You probably already have a dozen. ESPN+ is among the most popular, so you could watch all of the Fight Nights and assorted UFC content through something you were probably going to have for other sports anyway. Paramount+ has the UEFA Champions League, Big 10 football, some golf, March Madness, and rugby, basically CBS-type sports. It also has a bunch of movies and TV shows just like Peacock or Hulu or any other service. It’s priced out at $12.99 a month or $7.99 a month depending on the level of access you want. If UFC is on the $12.99 plan, that’s basically all of the pay per views and fight nights for the entire year for $156, which is the current cost of two pay per views right now.
So it’s a win for UFC nuts. Casuals might find it slightly annoying. Depends on how much ends up appearing on CBS itself.
BTW, DDP vs. Khamzat this weekend – over 2.5 rounds. There’s no way Khamzat takes down DDP and submits him in the first round. DDP is a big middleweight. I think it looks more like the Usman or Burns fights, and DDP does his drunken master thing and grinds out a unanimous decision in really goofy fashion.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com