“We could be on multiple platforms…” Dana White wants to go big, and there’s no doubt in that. As the $1.5 billion broadcasting deal with ESPN inches closer to an end, the UFC must find a platform to sign a new TV deal. And after the irritating glitches during UFC 313, it was certain that the MMA promotion needed to move faster and secure a new TV deal. But the UFC head honcho seemed to have a better idea. He seemed ready to dominate the broadcasting realm in the near future. 

On 12 March 2025, the UFC head honcho appeared in an interview with Dan Rafael on his Fight Freaks Unite Podcast. And the UFC CEO revealed his thoughts on the fight for the new TV rights deal. He acknowledged the fact that the world was getting smaller day-by-day, all thanks to the streaming platforms. And UFC might even get a deal signed with one of the big names in the online streaming realm. White quoted, “And the question is ‘Who’s it gonna be?’ Is it gonna be Amazon, YouTube, Disney? The list goes on and on. That’s who the players are gonna be. But what’s fascinating right now is when you look in, you got NFL college football, NBA college basketball, you got the NHL, Major League Baseball, the NBA, you got the UFC, WWE, and tennis… All these sports are looking for rights deals right now, right?” 

White knew it pretty well that the numbers for the NBA were dropping drastically. Even MLB was forced to sign new media rights at much lower values, after ESPN pulled out of the $550M contract. But the story was different for White. Even if he had no one to back him up in the TV deal, he was going to figure something out. He said, “I always go out and figure out how to build s— without the help of anybody. That’s what I do. Everybody is looking for a TV deal. Everybody is looking for money. I always try to figure out how do I take my thing to the next level and figure it out on my own.” 

The UFC’s deal with ESPN is set to end this year. However, the live streaming on ESPN+ has already begun to witness some glitches. And the most irritating glitches came at UFC 313. Let’s see what Dana White had to say about the technical issue. 

Dana White addresses the glitches with ESPN+ during UFC 313

During the post-fight press conference for UFC 313, White admitted to being aware of the problems faced by the public. However, he had absolutely no idea what went wrong with ESPN. He said, “Yeah, they made it to me. Yeah, there were problems buying it [the PPV] on ESPN Plus. I don’t know what happened with their platform tonight, but yeah, there are a lot of pi–ed off people.” White went on, “I guess ESPN was having all kinds of problems tonight, technically, with audio and graphics and NFL graphics were popping up, and I heard about it, but I don’t know why.”

This wasn’t the only time when UFC’s live broadcast received a backlash with rage aimed at ESPN. Back in 2024, the fighting community lashed out at White’s deal with ESPN. The reason? It was the substandard service for extremely high prices. But come April 15, 2025, the 7-year-old deal between UFC and ESPN will finally come to an end. 

As per Bloomberg, the fight promotion might sign a billion-dollar deal with the next broadcasting partner. Of course, White has received offers from many platforms other than ESPN. Even Netflix has entered the discussion, with Mark Shapiro and White, both acknowledging the possibility of a deal with Netflix. Who knows, it might even surpass NFL’s $111B TV deal. All we need to do as fans, is wait and watch. 

What do you think of White’s plan to dominate the sports broadcasting world? Do you think UFC can secure a deal bigger than that of the NFL? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.