Back in 2018, the UFC reached an all-time high-value of its product when they announced a five-year deal with ESPN at a staggering $1.5 billion. A year later, Dana White and Co. even extended their contract with the broadcast partner by two years, showing optimal compatibility between the two TV giants. Well, now we’re in 2025, and recently, the UFC’s long-term relationship with ESPN came to its rather inevitable end, with some speculating things ending on a rather bitter note.

As White confirmed that the UFC and ESPN are parting ways, without hesitating, he said: “When the window opens, we’ll obviously start talking to lots of different people and we’ll see what the options are out there.” In one breath, White not only ended a memorable run with one of the biggest broadcasting names in the world, but also took over the internet with everyone asking the same question: Where will the UFC go next?

While an answer to that remains a mystery, surely with International Fight Week less than two months away, the UFC has something big planned for us. As rumors and fight speculations have taken over for the most awaited annual event of the UFC, the main event is the main topic that everybody wants a piece of. The MMA community, as of now, is desperate for any sort of news regarding International Fight Week’s main event. Every single fan of the sport is confused as to whether the Islam Makhachev vs Ilia Topuria happen in the main event or not.

UFC insider and legend Chael Sonnen believes that the main reason behind the delay in the announcements of these fights lies in the TV rights deal negotiations that the UFC is going through at the moment. With no confirmations as to who will be the premium presenter of the UFC’s electrifying product, Sonnen believes the UFC has a huge announcement planned for their presentation before they announce the bouts for the biggest events of the year.

While sitting on his chair, Sonnen in a mysterious tone, explained: “We’re in a negotiation right now, you have a TV rights deal, and you’re in a negotiation right now. And you’re not going to harm yourself by creating problems with the most famous Muslim athlete in the world. That’s a quote by Ariel Helwani. Ariel actually gave that to Khabib, so I’m going to give it to Islam with the idea that Khabib is no longer viewed as an athlete. I think most do view him an athlete, but I’ve proven my point.”

He further added, “In case you’re wondering why Tom and John can’t get sorted, why this looks very unusual that there’s not more of a fight going on to make the fight happen. Just in case you wonder why now you have it, I’m going to leave it at that.” As he leaves it at that, we are left with a whole set of speculations and questions as to where the UFC is with the International Fight Week announcements.

However, its been a while since the contract between ESPN and the UFC has ended. After TKO took over the combat sports giant, fans expect the UFC to be presented on Netflix alongside WWE. But can the UFC match its fanbase’s expectation?

Netflix rejects $1Bn annual deal with the UFC. Dana White in crisis?

With the UFC’s product elevating with each event, the road to the next big step seemed smooth for the organization. After a full takeover by TKO, the UFC even announced its global expansion projects on both international and domestic level. From hosting international fight weeks on a more frequent basis to upgrading the UFC Apex to its new version, the UFC has already stepped a foot in the future.

All that has come to a halt as the UFC’s current negotiations with Netflix have broken down. The CEO of the entertainment giant, Ted Sarandos rejected the deal as he thought the annual price of the UFC, set at $1Bn was too much. With a massive crowd already on his streaming service with the addition of WWE and its major annual events held right after, Sarandos wants to focus on elevating what he has further before making big investments again.

With the help of its roots deeply established in the American and worldwide crowd, WWE however, did get themselves a $1 billion deal. Talking about his interest in the UFC, Sarandos said: “I’m not going to comment on any of those specific opportunities at this time. But I will steer you back to the letter to show you that our live event strategy is unchanged. We remain really focused on the big, breakthrough events. Our audiences love them.”

With International Fight Week so close, Dana White has to pull all the strings he can, and do whatever he can to bring the UFC back on track. And if there is any truth to Chael Sonnen’s words, the whole MMA community will hope that our favorite MMA organization sorts out and announces a huge TV broadcast deal soon. Will the UFC manage to land the Netflix deal? Or does the UFC boss have something else planned? What do you think? Let us know in the comments.