At the end of last month, Cristiano Ronaldo dropped massive news by announcing that he has become a shareholder at Ilia Topuria’s WOW FC in Spain. Because of that star partnership, fans believed there would be major developments for the Spain-based promotion. Now it seems that the MMA league led by ‘El Matador’ and CR7 is moving full swing to capture global attention, as they announced that all fights will stream on the soccer megastar’s YouTube channel.

“All WOW fights can be watched outside of Spain FOR FREE on Ronaldo’s YouTube channel. In Spain, Movistar Plus remains in place. And UFC Fight Pass continues. This is a tremendous bombshell for WOW.” Marca journalist Irati Prat posted on X.

Well, that definitely marks a massive step forward not only for Ilia Topuria’s co-owned MMA promotion, but for the entire Spanish combat sports landscape. CR7’s YouTube channel currently boasts 77.5 million subscribers, so the fighters will get serious attention as WOW fights stream there.

Also, along with the soccer giant’s massive social reach, and with platforms like Movistar and UFC Fight Pass still intact, Topuria’s promotion looks set for new heights as it targets a global audience. And after this special announcement, the Portuguese superstar also shared a message regarding this major decision.

“A new way to experience action sports: immersive, bold, and designed for the next generation. Innovation never stops,” Cristiano Ronaldo wrote on social media, as per Marca. 

Now that WOW FC fights are set to stream on CR7’s official YouTube channel, with the additional push of his Instagram account with 668 million followers, the promotion is bound to grab serious attention. So, to make the scraps appealing to this huge audience, Ilia Topuria might actually take on more of a promoter’s role to market his promotion as well. Now, would that mean ‘El Matador’s return becomes even longer? Let’s find out.  

WOW FC’s surge toward success could push back Ilia Topuria’s UFC return 

Recently, the lightweight champion revealed on X that he will stay out of competition until the first quarter of 2026 for personal reasons. Looking at Topuria’s absence, Dana White also had to cancel the alleged initial plans to put the Georgian Spaniard against Paddy Pimblett, and instead ended up making the UFC 324 headliner starring Justin Gaethje. The winner of the first Paramount card is guaranteed to get a shot at the 155 lbs king.

However, the 28-year-old champion currently deals with personal issues, and many fans suspect these issues connect to his rumored divorce with his wife, Giorgina Uzcategui Badell. These problems already halt his comeback. Topuria last fought in June 2025 against Charles Oliveira at UFC 317, and he originally aimed to return in either December this year or January 2026. But his suspected legal issues now push him out until March 2026, as he openly states that he will stay unavailable for the entire first quarter of next year.

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Also, the WOW FC card is already set for February 2026 in Bilbao, and it is expected that more events will happen in March and April. So if Ilia Topuria actually takes on the role of primary promoter for the organization, similar to how Conor McGregor played his promoter role with the BKFC, then this might collide with ‘El Matador’s lightweight title defense. Because of that reason, he might even aim to fight at the White House event projected for Donald Trump’s birthday on June 14.

So if the UFC gets on board with this idea, they might push Ilia Topuria to move up a weight class again and make the dream fight against Islam Makhachev, which could take the headlining spot of that still unofficial spectacle. That means it would be nearly a year since ‘El Matador’ last fought if the situation plays out like this.

That said, do you think WOW FC’s resurgence under Cristiano Ronaldo benefits the 155 lbs champ’s activity inside the UFC? Let us know in the comments section below.