Did piracy play a role in the UFC’s groundbreaking deal with Paramount?
Earlier this month, the Ultimate Fighting Championship officially announced that as of 2026, its live events will air exclusively on Paramount’s streaming platform. The media and entertainment company plunked down a whopping $7.7 billion to be the exclusive home of UFC events for the next seven years.
Perhaps the most exciting bit of news surrounding the deal was the revelation that all UFC events, including premium numbered cards typically reserved for pay-per-view, will air live on Paramount+ for the cost of a monthly subscription.
Offering his take on the UFC x Paramount partnership, former bantamweight king ‘Sugar’ Sean O’Malley suggested that rampant piracy of PPV events likely played a role in the unlikely partnership.
“The illegal streaming platforms, were just taking over pay-per-view, so it makes sense to get away from that and to go the way they’re going,” O’Malley told MMA Junkie. “But yeah, I was happy with where I was at pay-per-view wise.”
Dana White Leaves the Door Open for UFC’s Return to PPV Following Paramount Deal
While there are no official numbers for how many people pirate UFC events, estimates suggest that millions of people illegally stream UFC events every month, with a single event potentially attracting over 2 million viewers worldwide. With pay-per-view events costing fans $80, that means the UFC is leaving hundreds of millions on the table every single month.
The deal with Paramount will help the UFC mitigate those losses.
Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean that pay-per-view is dead. Not long after the UFC/Paramount deal was made official, Dana White suggested that the promotion could put together a 14th mega-sized event in 2026, which could be reserved for PPV.
“Anything is possible,” White told the New York Post. “And you could do a one-off pay-per-view. I am going to be on pay-per-view this Saturday. Pay-Per-View is not dead.”
