UFC £5.7bn broadcast deal may be ‘terrible’ for fighters

Retired MMA legend Georges St-Pierre says the UFC’s new broadcast deal with Paramount could be “terrible” for fighters.

The UFC announced on Monday it had signed a seven-year deal with Paramount which would bring most pay-per-views to an end in the US – with events appearing on Paramount’s streaming service or on CBS TV network.

The deal is reportedly worth more than £700m a year, or £5.7bn in total, an incredible increase from the £370m five-year deal the UFC had with ESPN previously.

St-Pierre, a two-weight UFC champion and an all-time great, questioned where the deal leaves fighters – especially those who negotiated a cut of pay-per-view sales.

“It could be good for the UFC, as a promoter, [but] terrible for the fighters because when I was competing I was able to have a great argument to negotiate on my contract,” St-Pierre told Covers.

“I could tell the UFC, ‘hey, if you want me to do all the promotion, I want to become a partner. I want a piece of the pie to negotiate a part of the pay-per-view revenue’.

“Because if I’m doing all the promotion, I’m helping you, but you need to help me. You need to make me a partner.

“So it might be a bad thing for the fighters in a way that they have less leverage [to negotiate more money].”

Jake Paul, who has publicly feuded with UFC president Dana White over fighter pay since swapping YouTube for boxing, said athletes now have a “clear picture” of what the UFC’s revenue is.

“No more PPV excuses. Get your worth boys and girls,” he added.

Most UFC fighters have either a flat fee per event or a show and seperate win fee, while there is also a cut of the UFC’s sponsorship deal with their clothing partner Venum.

UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall said on the Ariel Helwani Show he was not sure how the new model would affect fighters.

Manchester fighter Aspinall will headline a PPV event, UFC 321, in October.

The new broadcast deal will kick in at the start of 2026 and after initial reports stated the PPV model would end completely, White said there was still the possibility of a few standalone PPV events each year.

This deal only applies to the US, with TNT Sports the UFC’s broadcast partner in the UK.

The UFC has used PPVs as a revenue generator since its first event in 1993.

But reports indicated PPV sales have been decreasing in recent years. The UFC staged 14 PPV events in 2024 in the US that were about £60 each.