“MMA is in a recession,” declared Ariel Helwani during a special episode, as boxing mogul Eddie Hearn nodded in agreement. The veteran journalist pointed fingers at Dana White’s UFC and the broader MMA landscape, claiming they’ve stumbled into turbulent waters. Helwani criticized the UFC’s lackluster fight cards, the absence of a blockbuster International Fight Week headliner, and the prolonged hiatus of megastars like Jon Jones and Conor McGregor. While his concerns may hold weight, the MMA juggernaut’s soaring revenue figures seem to paint a very different picture.

TKO, the parent company of both the UFC and WWE, has released its quarterly financial reports, revealing good news for the Las Vegas-based promotion. However, the overall performance is still impacted by WWE and IMG, which are also under TKO management. According to TKO’s financial statement, the UFC had a positive quarterly outlook, generating $359.7 million in revenue in 2025 Q1 — a 14.69% increase compared ($46.7 million more) to the $313 million from the same period in 2024.

A further breakdown of the financial data shows that the Dana White-led promotion earned $224.1 million from media rights, production, and content; $58.6 million from live events and hospitality; $64.3 million from partnerships and marketing; and $12.7 million from consumer products licensing and other sources. There was a significant gain in every aspect except the licensing sector.

After adjusting the EBITDA (Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization), UFC’s revenue stands at $227.4 million, which is a significant increase compared to $195.1 million from the same period last year. The Dana White-led promotion performed well, but it lacked competition to WWE, whose revenue stands at $391.5 million, a 23.7% increase compared to the $316.7 million last year.

Interestingly, during the same quarter last year, WWE generated only $3 million more in revenue than the UFC. However, this quarter tells a different story, as WWE has posted a massive $32 million more in revenue than the Dana White-led promotion. Moreover, the UFC’s numbers fell flat in front of IMG as well, which raked in $476.1 million in 2025 Q1. However, their figures had a deficit of around $73.1 million as they earned $549.7 million during the same period last year.

Well, the TKO, quarterly reports give us a positive outlook for the sport, but that doesn’t mean that the MMA is not in recession.

Ariel Helwani backed his word on “MMA Recession” against Dana White

International Fight Week is just months away, and Dana White has yet to announce the headlining fight for the grand event. This has raised concerns among MMA fans as well as renowned journalist Ariel Helwani, who suggested that the entire sport might be entering a ‘recession’. This statement by Helwani faced resistance from the MMA fans who accused him of making such statements due to his animosity with Dana White.

However, talking to his audience, Helwani claimed that he made these statements based on facts, “I never said the UFC is in a recession. MMA, there is a big difference. I am talking about the business. And when I talk about the business, I’m talking about the fact that there aren’t options. And by the way, I even saw a tweet from Ali Abdelaziz, my number one hater, saying the same thing. This is a man that is in the business.”

What Helwani meant was that the sport of MMA is in recession owing to the lack of a proper and sustainable No. 2 fight promotion in the sport that can compete with the UFC. Bellator? Done and dusted. PFL? A promotion that recently bled its best fighters to other promotions like Aaron Pico and Patricio Pitbull, to the UFC, only to name a few.

He further added, “I’m not just saying it sitting here in this chair. I’m talking to managers, I’m talking to people who are in the business, somewhat lamenting the fact that there aren’t a lot of options. And when there aren’t a lot of options, you don’t have a ton of leverage to negotiate. You aren’t able to seek the best deal out there for you. That’s what I mean.”

Despite his animosity with White, Ariel Helwani has always supported the sport. So, when he says that MMA is heading into a recession, it’s worth paying attention. Notably, the deafening silence from the UFC’s top brass regarding the upcoming UFC 317, along with the lack of action surrounding inactive champions, has also become a key point of discussion in this context. Will Dana White take action to make sure his brainchild doesn’t go into recession? State your opinion in the comments below.