Paramount and UFC have announced a billion-dollar rights deal, marking a significant shift for the fight company.

White did not specify how much the new bonuses will be. The Paramount deal goes in effect starting with the first event in January 2026. Since 2013, the four performance bonuses handed out after each UFC event have steadily been $50,000 apiece with very few exceptions.

Set to last seven years, with an average annual value of $1.1bn, the contract marks the impending end of the UFC’s partnership with ESPN, a relationship that began in 2019. More importantly, however, the deal also means the end of the UFC’s pay-per-view (PPV) model.