Dana White and the UFC penning a new TV deal has got the entire fight world talking. In a mammoth $7.7 billion seven-year deal, UFC fans will be able to access all 43 live events that the promotion has to offer on Paramount+, free of cost. The deal, as a result, marks the end of the pay-per-view model for promotion. While the deal will officially begin in January 2026, the eradication of the PPV model was something that His Excellency Turki Alalshikh did before the Las Vegas-based promotion decided to jump on.

During the recent Contender Series post-fight presser, Dana White reiterated what the new deal means for the UFC viewers. It appears that the UFC CEO has been pretty aware of the talk that’s been going on among fans on social media. The 56-year-old claimed to have come across the information that fans were paying well over a thousand dollars every single year to access fights. So, White believes that since Paramount+ also has movies and TV shows to offer its viewers, the fans can now enjoy all the entertainment under one roof.

“I saw this thing on the internet yesterday that said this year or last year, to be a UFC fan, it costs you $1030 to watch everything. Now it’s $115 or something. That’s where the big difference is,” Dana White stated at the presser. “When you think about Paramount+, all the great programming they have, you pay your $12.99, you get all the UFC content plus movies and TV shows and all that.”

Only a couple of weeks ago, HE Turki Alalshikh claimed that he was getting rid of the PPV model for all Riyadh Season boxing cards, in partnership with DAZN. According to him, the pay-per-view model had “damaged boxing.” In this regard, a reporter at the aforementioned presser recalled the GEA Chairman’s words, believing that the removal of the financial barrier that the PPV model posed could see a spike in the UFC and MMA’s popularity, with more fans tuning in.

“Turki and everybody were saying that getting rid of the PPV model. There’s going to be a whole new audience that never had a chance to maybe even see the sport. Do you feel that now, [for] a lot of people, if that was a barrier… that barrier is now going away? So, in all aspects, this sport should grow even faster now,” the reporter stated. And guess what? Dana White echoed the same sentiment, claiming, “I agree.”

Meanwhile, it seems like there are still certain discrepancies and ambiguities surrounding the new deal that Dana White and Co. have penned with Paramount under Skydance. According to Ariel Helwani, the deal has not mentioned a couple of important UFC shows. Here’s what he had to say.

Veteran journalist claims that Dana White & Co.’s deal did not mention DWCS and TUF

Ariel Helwani appears to have gone through the whole press release because soon after, he made some startling observations. Although Dana White has mentioned that fans can access all UFC content on Paramount+, the release has excluded the Contender Series and the popular reality show, The Ultimate Fighter, in the deal. Helwani believes that these shows may be added to the network later, but there is a chance that they could end up on other networks because the promotion’s execs have not provided an update on that front.

“$7.7 billion over seven years. $1.1 billion a year. No more PPVs. Now, [it’s] interesting to note, conspicuous by its absence, in the release. Contender Series was not mentioned, The Ultimate Fighter was not mentioned,” Ariel Helwani stated on his YouTube channel. “Those are the two big ones. They can easily sell that off to someone else. Now, if I’m Paramount, I’m saying, ‘I want to own the whole damn thing. I wanna be the home of UFC.’ Maybe they add that, like they did with the PPVs with ESPN. That remains to be seen.”

We are still a few months away from the UFC’s new TV deal coming into effect. So, there might be certain additions or perhaps changes to the partnership with Paramount. Nevertheless, let us know your thoughts about the UFC dropping the PPV deal in the comments down below.