Following the inaugural episode of this year’s Dana White’s Contender Series, Dana White addressed the media, who were interested as much in the reality fighting series as they were in the UFC’s new broadcast deal with streaming service Paramount+.
The deal is set to launch in 2026, with the promotion leaving ESPN and headed to the streamer for seven years in a deal worth $7.7 billion U.S. That’s for all Fight Night and numbered UFC events, though the Contender Series, Road to UFC, and The Ultimate Fighter are not included.
Numbered events will no longer be Pay-Per-Views, making the deal a great one for fight fans, who just need to purchase a Paramount+ subscription. Those currently top out at $12.99 a month. And with $1.1 billion coming in from the U.S. broadcast rights alone, the UFC is in a position to finally bump fighter pay, which has essentially flatlined at the entry level for years.
White was non-committal when discussing base pay on Tuesday, speaking with media outlets assembled at the UFC Apex. “I’m not going to have any comments on that yet, because we’ve still got to get together and figure this stuff out. It’s August, we have til January to figure all that stuff.”
What he did reveal, however, was a boost to post-fight bonuses. “The low hanging fruit that’s easy to answer, bonuses are obviously going up. So that’ll be big.”
“Forget about the tide rising with all the other fighters. Just the number that the bonuses bring to a fighter – that’s millions of dollars.”
Well, sort of. Maybe, depending on how much post-fight bonuses increase. To date, the man who has the most post-fight bonuses in UFC history is Charles Oliveira, at 20. That is exactly $1,000,000 in bonus money over the span of his career, if you use $50,000 as your guide (bonuses have at times been more, or less, with significant bumps for events like UFC 300). Still, millions is a stretch. And your entry level UFC fighter is still making $12,000 or so in show money for their first fight with the promotion, which doubles should they win.
White, the UFC’s CEO and President, did not specify just how much bonuses will increase by.
Pay-Per-View points to top stars remain a question as well, given the PPV model will no longer exist come January, at least stateside. Still, Dana White suggested the promotion was happy to work with Paramount Skydance on moving away from the model that helped build the company.
The UFC has moved from Spike TV, to FOX, to ESPN over the years; in 2026, the promotion will have its exclusive home on Paramount+, with some events airing on broadcast network CBS. “All of these guys have different objectives and goals that they want to do with their property over the next several years. Whatever it is, we are aligned, and we get in, we roll up our sleeves and we do what needs to be done.”
“If it was going to be Pay-Per-View, it was going to be Pay-Per-View. If it was going to be subscription, it was going to be subscription.”
Subscription model it is. Still not sorted out is hosting events overseas in prime time locally, such as cards in the U.K. “All that stuff still needs to be worked out,” White admitted.
