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UFC News: CEO Dana White Open To ‘Other Rights’ Ahead Of 2025 TV Deal

Will the UFC leave ESPN at the end of 2025?

Zain Bando

Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The UFC’s partnership with ESPN is up at the end of 2025, and according to CEO Dana White, the promotion is already garnering interest from fellow bidders.

White said the NBA’s new rights deal, which will see the league featured on at least three platforms, could significantly impact the UFC’s decision-making.

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"It’s going to depend how all these other [professional] rights play out,” White said in an interview with CNBC Thursday. “The NBA was a big deal. Obviously, this one is playing out. ‘Who’s going to get them? Who’s not going to get them?’ It could determine where we end up.”

UFC Has Been On Major Networks Before

In 2005, the UFC inked its first television deal with Paramount Network (formerly Spike TV) for six years. It spent another eight years across the Fox Sports properties before moving all content to ESPN and ESPN+ in April 2019.

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White added that with the direction sports leagues are taking by airing events on multiple networks, the Connecticut native envisions something similar, with or without the ESPN relationship.

 “I could definitely see [the UFC on multiple networks]. … We have a lot of different levels of fights, whether it’s Contender Series, Fight Nights or pay-per-views. They could end up on multiple platforms.”

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Currently, the UFC requires U.S. subscribers to pay for ESPN+ and additional fees to order individual pay-per-view offerings. Separate from ESPN+ is UFC Fight Pass, which is the promotion’s vault library plus additional original programming. In select countries, the events are included with UFC Fight Pass.

It remains to be seen which other bidders will come to the table, but something does seem clear: the UFC has arrived and is here to stay.

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Stick with MMA Knockout for more daily coverage of the UFC, MMA, WWE, and AEW.

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Zain Bando
ZAIN BANDO

Zain Bando is a writer for MMA Knockout, part of the Sports Illustrated/Minute Media umbrella. He has covered combat sports since 2019 for notable outlets BJPenn.com and FanSided MMA. He also co-hosts a podcast called "The MMA Outsiders," part of the Empty The Bench Podcast Network, which airs Tuesday nights at 7:00 p.m. ET/4:00 p.m. PT. A Chicago suburban native, Bando has been enthralled with MMA since 2006 and has been fortunate to attend some of the most high-profile events in the sport's history, both as a fan and media member, including UFC 264, Bellator 297 and Kayla Harrison's PFL MMA debut. He is excited to take the next step in his combat sports writing journey and looks forward to continuing his following of the fight game for years to come. Bando can be reached via email at zainbando99@gmail.com or by social media @zainbando99

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