Sean O’Malley explains why piracy led to the enormous Paramount Deal of the UFC

Has piracy played a role in the groundbreaking deal of the UFC with Paramount?

Earlier this month, the Ultimate Fighting Championship officially announced that from 2026 the live events will be broadcast exclusively on the Paramount streaming platform. The media and entertainment company fell no less than $ 7.7 billion to be the exclusive home base of UFC events for the next seven years.

Perhaps the most exciting piece of news about the deal was the revelation that all UFC events, including premium numbered cards that are usually reserved for pay-per-view, broadcast live on Paramount+ for the costs of a monthly subscription.

The former Bantamweight King ‘Sugar’ Sean O’Malley, that he offered his view of the UFC X Paramount Partnership that the unbridled piracy of PPV events probably played a role in the unlikely partnership.

“The illegal streaming platforms just took over pay-per-view, so it’s logical to get away and go as they go,” O’Malley told against Nice junkie. “But yes, I was happy with where I was at Pay-Perview Wise.”

Dana White leaves the door open for the return from UFC to PPV after Paramount Deal

Although there are no official figures for how many people Pirate UFC events pirates, estimates suggest that millions of people stream illegally UFC events every month, with a single event that may attract more than 2 million viewers worldwide. With pay-per-view events that cost fans $ 80, this means that the UFC leaves hundreds of millions on the table every month.

The deal with Paramount helps the UFC to reduce those losses.

That of course does not necessarily mean that pay-per-view is dead. Not long after the UFC/Paramount deal was officially closed, Dana White suggested that the promotion could put together a 14th mega-sized event in 2026, which could be reserved for PPV.

“Everything is possible,” White told the New York Post. “And you could do a one-time pay-per-view. I’m going to be on pay-per-view this Saturday. Pay-per-view is not dead.”