UFC 326 marked the promotion’s first official broadcast on CBS under its Paramount+ era, which is a significant achievement. But while Dana White and Co celebrated the milestone, a UFC legend dealt with some frustrating problems with the broadcasting service. The reason behind the frustration? Abrupt streaming issues resulted in a poor experience.

Following the successful event at the T-Mobile Arena, Dana White addressed the media about the new partnership with Paramount+ and CBS. During the interaction, the UFC CEO claimed that the promotion had already exceeded expectations while pulling significantly bigger numbers outside the traditional PPV model.

“I think that if you look at where we are now, we’re out from underneath two paywalls,” Dana White said at the post-fight presser. “So obviously being on CBS is huge, and Paramount… for what it would cost for one PPV, you can watch everything UFC for the year. We already feel the difference in the business, and Paramount definitely does. We have exceeded the expectations of people who are coming over to watch the fights. And obviously, with the White House card, we will blow it out of the water,” he added.

While Dana White proudly spoke about the UFC reaching new heights with its broadcasting partners, UFC legend Demetrious Johnson dealt with problems of his own. Reportedly, the broadcast went completely black during the third round of the main event clash between Charles Oliveira and Max Holloway, and many viewers suddenly lost the stream. Stating the same issue, the former flyweight champion did not hold back and blasted Paramount+. 

“The TV just turned off. Hopefully we don’t miss anything,” ‘DJ’ said in a recent YouTube video. “You know, I miss the good old days when it was DirecTV, Comcast, and none of this streaming bulls—. Just keep it on f—ing DirecTV. ‘Oops, looks like your internet was interrupted, please try again.’ No, b—h, your s— got interrupted,” he concluded.

To be fair, streaming has definitely made watching fights far more convenient for fans. However, the technology also comes with drawbacks, especially when technical issues surface. For instance, the UFC 313 PPV also faced several glitches under ESPN last year, and the problem appears to have carried into this year as well. Realistically, these issues will likely continue in the future.

Moreover, Johnson was not the only one who experienced the problem either. Several prominent voices, including Ariel Helwani, also reported facing similar streaming issues during the broadcast.

Now that these problems have come to light, the UFC will likely continue evaluating its partnership with Paramount+. At the same time, Dana White appears to have already started thinking about how broadcasters will handle the highly anticipated White House event.  

Dana White talks about broadcasting distribution for the UFC White House card

The UFC announced its much-awaited White House event during the live broadcast of UFC 326. The anticipation has finally ended as two of the promotion’s biggest stars, Ilia Topuria and Alex Pereira, will headline the event against Justin Gaethje and Ciryl Gane, respectively.

With Freedom 250 set to take place on June 14, the event’s broadcast now stands as another major task for the UFC brass. However, Dana White confirmed that Paramount and CBS are working under the head of production Craig Borsari to figure out the distribution side of things.

“We got a lot of logistics done,” White said at the UFC White House post-fight presser. “We went out there and presented it to the president and his team. And now we’ll get into all of that stuff. Still so much work to do for this fight. Literally, Craig Borsari, head of production, this is all he works on now. Nothing else till this is over.”

With most of the groundwork already done for the Freedom 250 card, the promotion will likely sort out the broadcasting plan soon, and fans will hope for a seamless viewing experience. That said, will the UFC’s production team actually prevent sudden black screens from happening at marquee events? Let us know in the comments section below.