Last week, viewership numbers for the UFC White House event on Paramount+ in the United States and Latin America were released, with the event collectively garnering 17 million viewers across both markets. While that is an outstanding figure for a UFC event, it matched the global peak viewership of Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions’ inaugural MMA event last month, which also reached a peak viewership of 17 million viewers on Netflix. Thereafter, both Paul and Ronda Rousey took a dig at the UFC. However, it was widely expected that the UFC Freedom 250 event’s global viewership number would surpass the Rousey-Carano event once the figures are collated. Now, the numbers have arrived, and the total is double that of the Netflix event.

According to a new press release by the UFC, the Freedom 250 amassed 34 million total viewers worldwide and also generated a staggering 126 billion social media views to become the most viewed MMA event in the world. As such, the UFC Freedom 250’s global viewership also turned out to be exactly double what the Rousey-Carano event managed to pull in May. However, when it comes to the UFC, the full picture has not yet been fully revealed.

The press release showed that the UFC White House card’s viewership numbers from the United Kingdom, India, China, and South Korea contributed significantly to its global total. However, some countries, including Spain and France, have yet to reveal their figures. Those numbers are expected to be released around mid-June, meaning the promotion’s June 14 spectacle could climb even higher once the numbers from remaining markets are included. Even so, there is still one area where Jake Paul and MVP can claim a victory.

While the UFC White House card comfortably surpassed the MVP MMA 1 event in terms of total global viewership, the Rousey vs. Carano event still holds the edge in average U.S. viewership. According to the initial figures, UFC Freedom 250 averaged around 7 million viewers in the United States, while Jake Paul’s inaugural MMA event reportedly averaged more than 9 million. In that sense, MVP’s debut card still managed to give the ambitious UFC spectacle a respectable competition on the domestic front. For the UFC, however, even bigger events are already on the horizon.

Conor McGregor’s long-awaited return at UFC 329 immediately follows Freedom 250, with Daniel Cormier already suggesting it could be an even “bigger” and “better” spectacle. Beyond that, Islam Makhachev’s welterweight title defense against Ian Garry is set for UFC 330 in Philadelphia, while Kamaru Usman vs. Dricus du Plessis at UFC Oklahoma City has also generated significant hype. If those events deliver as expected, the UFC could soon set another record in terms of collective viewership.

For this, Dana White has already talked about the UFC’s partnership with Paramount+, delivering big under their massive $7.7 billion seven-year deal.

Dana White promises an even bigger two years with Paramount+ after UFC White House success

Reacting to the UFC White House card’s record-breaking numbers in the United States and Latin America, Dana White called the spectacle the “biggest thing we have ever done” during the UFC Vegas 119 post-fight press conference. But it appears the UFC CEO has even bigger ambitions. White assured everyone that the next two years under Paramount+ would be even more massive.

“I’m telling you, just watch what happens,” White said. “This is what I said with boxing, judge us January 2027, the body of work we do this year. Wait until you see what we do over the next two years.”

With Zuffa Boxing, Dana White and company have already made headlines by signing stars like Conor Benn and Jai Opetaia. However, the UFC remains the 56-year-old mogul’s flagship product for now. Judging by the scale of 2026, surpassing this year’s intensity and volume will be a difficult task, but the promotion has shown that it is willing to keep raising the bar.

The immense success of the UFC White House card could encourage Dana White to push the boundaries even further, exploring more large-scale events outside the traditional arena setting in the years ahead.