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Once Focused on Combat Sports, DAZN Expands to MLB, NBA Teams
The streamer has quickly amassed a large collection of team rights.
UFC 332 preview, predictions: Worst main event in history?
UFC 332 is set for Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Sat. night (Oct. 3, 2026) with the preliminary card streaming on Paramount+, followed by the main card on the CBS network — home to this 2008 record breaker. There exists a subset of combat sports fans who remain puzzled as to why a […]
UFC veterans in combat sports action Sept. 18-19
Check out which veterans of the UFC are competing around the globe this weekend.
Bella Mir has some lofty combat sports goals
Bella Mir headlines Tuesday Dana White's Contender Series event against Alex Apodaca.
Combat sports icon, 10-time WWE champ Brock Lesnar retires
Brock Lesnar, a 10-time WWE world champ and former UFC heavyweight champ, said his match at WWE SummerSlam was his last and that he's retiring from combat sports.
Jake Paul's MVP, PFL team up in 'landmark' combat sports merger
Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions is joining forces with the Professional Fighters League in a "landmark merger" announced Thursday.
MOST VALUABLE PROMOTIONS AND PROFESSIONAL FIGHTERS LEAGUE MERGE TO CREATE A NEW GLOBAL COMBAT SPORTS PLATFORM POWERHOUSE
MOST VALUABLE PROMOTIONS AND PROFESSIONAL FIGHTERS LEAGUE MERGE TO CREATE A NEW GLOBAL COMBAT SPORTS PLATFORM POWERHOUSE
UFC Freedom 250 Fails to Knock Out The Ratings
(Welcome to my weekly streaming ratings report, the single best guide to what’s popular in streaming TV and what isn’t. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. If you were forwarded this email, please subscribe to get these insights each week.) If UFC fans wanted one image to say, “Hey, Paramount+ is crushing it with their UFC rights deal,” I could provide that image. Here it is: (Reminder: this is my creation of the Nielsen Top 30, since Nielsen doesn’t combine the lists or include sports. I take all three lists and combine them. Some streaming TV shows probably have higher ratings than many of the films on this list.) Look at that! UFC Freedom 250 is number one! It topped the Nielsen “Top 30” list for shows and films that made the top ten the week of 15-June. So if you’re a UFC fan or supporter of Paramount+, that’s the good news for you this week. This program topped the ratings charts for one week. Everything else is bad news, or at least a huge caveat to that story, which I’ll explain today in the first part of this week’s Streaming Ratings Report—for the weeks of 8-June and 15-June—which is a double issue since I’ve been writing on a bunch of topics recently. UFC Freedom 250 is one of the biggest streaming events of the year, and super relevant to Paramount+’s strategy, so it merited its own article. Let’s dive in! (Reminder: The streaming ratings report focuses on the U.S. market and compiles data from Nielsen’s weekly top ten viewership ranks, Luminate’s Top Ten Data, JustWatch and Reelgood interest data, Samba TV household viewership, company datecdotes, Netflix hours viewed data, Google Trends, and IMDb to determine the most popular content. While most data points are current, Nielsen’s data covers the weeks of June 8th to June 21st 2026. You can find a link to my terminology here.) Subscribe Check Out My Interview on UFC 250 at MMA Draw After you read this article, if you want even more thoughts on UFC and Paramount-Skydance/Paramount+, I did a written interview with MMA Draw. They asked me to answer some questions about UFC Freedom 250, and I was happy to chat with them. Find it here: [ The MMA Draw Newsletter Did Paramount really overpay for the UFC? What the data tells us so far If you know the history of American television, you also know that combat sports is often a leading indicator of the future… Read more a day ago · 10 likes · 1 comment · Nate Wilcox and Zach Arnold ](https://www.themmadraw.com/p/did-paramount-really-overpay-for?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=post_embed&utm_medium=web) I never thought I’d need a combat sports newsletter in my life, but the good folks at MMA Draw publish an excellent one on UFC, MMA, pro wrestling, boxing and more, analyzing both the sports themselves and the politics, economics and antitrust issues that impact them. Check the article and their newsletter out! Paramount+ Has Its Best Sporting Event of All Time…But Was It Worth It? Before we look at the UFC Freedom 250 data in particular, let’s talk about what we can’t say. Namely, let’s start with the lack of comparisons. First off, I’d love to put a chart out comparing this fight to past UFC fights on Paramount+…but we don’t have the data. This is the first time we’ve gotten Nielsen data about a Paramount+ UFC fight. As far as I can tell, Paramount provided data for the first fight, but it was a proprietary datecdote (saying it had “an average minute audience” of 5 million “views”) and then, for two fights, we got the linear viewership numbers when they aired on CBS, but no streaming data. Everything else was crickets. We also can’t compare this fight to other fights/combat sports on streaming, in particular the MMA and boxing, because Netflix also didn’t use Nielsen to track those events, opting for TVision and VideoAmp, respectively. (This isn’t Paramount’s fault, but does still suck.) We also can’t compare to UFC’s fights that used to be on ESPN+, since we don’t have any data for that, plus Disney+ didn’t have marquee fights. The comparisons would not be apples-to-apples. Can we compare to past Pay-Per-View fights? Absolutely not. The comparisons would absolutely NOT be apples-to-apples. That didn’t stop Paramount+, though, who bragged that their UFC events have reached drastically more people than past PPV fights. Duh. Sorry, but I gotta make this point again. A basic tenet of economics is that the cheaper something becomes, the more people consume or buy it. That’s Econ 101. (Sometimes pundits call things “Econ 101” that are actually like Econ 210 or even PhD-level economics, but no, this is really like first or second class basic economics.) Yet I still see one analytics firm consistently say that more people watch films on streaming than PVOD proves streaming which means that the streaming window is more valuable than the PVOD window. No, it’s not! Same thing here. Pay-Per-View events back in the day could be really, really, really expensive! So whole groups of people pitched in to buy them. That increased the perceived value of, say, the Mike Tyson fight. Or a UFC numbered event. So yes, the fact that Paramount+ makes numbered UFC fights essentially “free” if you’re already a Paramount+ member means consumption will go up. Obviously. Same for Netflix and their boxing matches. They’re talking about fights that used to cost consumers, in some cases, $50 in 1996…which is over $100 in today’s dollars. Over 1.6 million people paid that to watch the Tyson-Holyfield fight! Again, streaming is essentially “free”. Or $10 to $20, depending on what streamer we’re talking about and what tier you’re on. No wonder more people are “watching”. (Plus, Nielsen’s out-of-home viewing also helps these numbers.) UFC Freedom 250 Did Well…But I Have A Lot of Worries So what can we compare the fights to? Well, the good news is Nielsen put out that the fight averaged 7.0 million viewers for UFC Freedom 250, which is a solid number for a fight. We also know the length, at roughly 4 and a half hours. (I saw different run times, but this seems to be the consensus considering it started at 8 pm, had a delay and then finished after midnight on the East Coast. If you assume a shorter run time, then yes, the total hours viewed would go down.) That means I have the two numbers needed to add this to my Nielsen database. And then…I can compare this viewership to the NFL: And, uh, not great. But also within striking distance, mainly because the runtime for this event was so long. I’d also add that this event had viewership equal to a regular season NFL game on streaming, but if anything, it was more comparable to an NFL playoff or Super Bowl-esque event. And you can compare viewership to the top football games on broadcast, cable and streaming, and it’s not impressive at all: We can also compare it to other sports that week, including the NBA Finals and start of the World Cup: Again, not great. The NBA generated roughly four times as many average viewers each game for its NBA Finals. The World Cup has similarly big numbers. Also, that’s just a tiny fraction of the 25 most watched sporting events each week. The NBA, NHL and FIFA World Cup had many, many more games racking up hours. We could also compare this to other streaming programs to get an idea of “is this a good investment?” and here is how it ranks compared to other top Paramount+ programs: The worry here? Well, unlike scripted programming, which has rewatchability, older fights/sporting events have very little library value. Very, very few people are rewatching these fights, especially years from now. Paramount has also released datecdotes bragging about their subscriber numbers. Earlier this year, they claimed that the first UFC fight on Paramount+ brought in 1 million subscribers. Then, in their quarterly earnings report, they only ended up with 700K subs. Not great! They claimed they dropped lower-value international subscribers, but that’s why I tend to discount subscriber additions when they’re leaked to the press.1 I expect we may see a bump again for UFC Freedom 250, but I’d caution using subscriber growth so soon after these events to judge the success, since new subs with high churn (see Peacock) aren’t great either. Also, analysts often want to attribute all subscriber growth to their favorite/pet show, and that just doesn’t make sense. The biggest caveat for UFC Freedom 250 and Paramount’s very first UFC marquee event is that these could be high watermarks for the sport. UFC Freedom 250 had an incredible amount of earned media coverage compared to most UFC fights. I mean, it had wall-to-wall national news coverage in the lead up to the event. (The first fight also had a lot of promotion from Paramount since it was first.) Other fights could reach this bar—say the Conor McGregor return to the Octagon—but they’ll be fewer and far between. Was This Deal Worth It? All to ask: is this Paramount deal worth it? In this case, I think the UFC Freedom 250 numbers are more distracting than helpful. This fight did well and compares well to other top sporting events. But we know that the first marquee event was at least a third smaller, if Paramount’s own data is to be believed. And it’s likely the other fights are much, much, much smaller. And then you get to the paycheck that Paramount-Skydance paid. FIFA’s World Cup cost about the same for Fox, but clearly generated multiples more total viewership. (Though it’s only every four years.) The NBA is much more expensive, but until the playoffs, they likely didn’t pay for itself. Even still, Disney, NBCUniversal and Amazon Prime Video likely overpaid. So, in that context, the NBA may be an overpay that makes the UFC look not so bad. But two overpays don’t make an underpay, to paraphrase the old cliché about wrongs and rights. And looking at UFC Freedom 250 as the likely ceiling of MMA on Paramount+, Paramount-Skydance likely paid too much. Share 1 I would love regular reports on subscriber additions by programs, but as is, it’s mostly leaked or rumored in haphazard ways.
Combat Sports World Joins NBA Superstar LeBron James Sweepstakes
The combat sports world has joined in on the festivities as sports fans everywhere await Lebron James next move. In case you don’t know, the legendary NBA superstar is no longer a member of the Los Angeles Lakers where he has played for the past eight seasons. This includes an NBA Championship back in 2020 […]
Why Combat Sports Continue to Attract Global Audiences
No sports experience can beat the adrenaline rush of witnessing two opponents battle each other on equal footing, armed only with skills, preparation, and sheer willpower. Throughout the ages, boxing, MMA, wrestling, and judo have continued entertaining people all over the globe, uniting fans from many different backgrounds with a common language. Discover how fascinating […] The post Why Combat Sports Continue to Attract Global Audiences appeared first on Native News Online.
Combat Sports Are Ready For Their Data Moment
Combat sports are increasingly popular. SmashLog has built the operating system that allows athletes to train with purpose.
Oval Office octagon: How Trump turned combat sports into a political weapon
MMA event reflects career deeply intertwined with professional fighting, but risks political fallout.
Oval Office octagon: How Trump turned combat sports into a political weapon
MMA event reflects career deeply intertwined with professional fighting, but risks political fallout.
Treasure State Top Five: Montana combat sports legends
It’s time for the first ever Treasure State Top Five where SWX Montana’s Josh Dugan will be breaking down his top five rankings for a number of different categories in
UFC announces global sports diplomacy partnership with U.S. State Department
In a development that has forever merged the worlds of combat sports and international affairs, UFC CEO Dana White and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding at the State Department headquarters. Dana White doesn't approve of steady growth and instead ...
One event, 5 disciplines: combat sports kicks off in Brasilia
All the action of a FISU World University Championship multiplied by five: this is what to expect over the next six days in Brasilia, where ju-jitsu, karate, muaythai, wrestling and wushu student-athletes will meet. The FISU World University Championship 2026 season will leave Gothenburg, Sweden, on 7 June to pop up on the 8 June […]
Holly Holm wasn't surprised by Ronda Rousey returning
Ronda Rousey's dominating three-year reign atop the UFC women's bantamweight division was brought to a sudden halt by Holly Holm at UFC 193 in November 2015. Holm knocked out Rousey with a head kick early in the second round sending shockwaves throughout the combat sports world. Rousey returned to ...
From avoidance to greater acceptance: Interest grows in youth combat sports
Columbia parents and kids are finding benefits from mixed martial arts not only in the gym but beyond it as well.
Dustin Poirier: Zuffa Boxing not an option for UFC fighters
In recent years. several former or retired UFC fighters have extended their combat sports careers by transitioning to boxing. Former champions Tyron Woodley, Anderson Silva and Francis Ngannou have. Ben Askren, Nate Diaz, Jorge Masvial, Mike Perry and Darren Till also have, among others. Former ...
Mesa's Micky Scala, other locals earn Fight Club PHX wins
At the inaugural Fight Club PHX event, the Arizona Center in downtown Phoenix featured two rings for combat sports and room for fans.
IBA NOMAD 14 delivers spectacular night of combat sports in Almaty
Almaty, Kazakhstan – A historic night for combat sports concluded at the Almaty Arena as the inaugural IBA NOMAD 14 joint tournament captivated a capacity of 13,000 spectators. The event, […]
Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship set for Hawaii debut
Combat sports are back in the islands this weekend.
Combat star Francis Ngannou released by PFL, now a free agent
Combat sports star Francis Ngannou, who has competed in both MMA and boxing in recent years, is not a free agent after his release by the PFL on Friday.
Zabit Magomedsharipov announces combat sports return 7 years after final UFC fight
One of MMA's biggest what-ifs is returning to combat sports competition.
Celtics' Jaylen Brown has had talks with UFC's Dana White on combat sports career
Brown, 29, still likely has plenty of basketball ahead of him
Brown toying with idea of UFC, boxing after NBA
Celtics star Jaylen Brown, who has training in Muay Thai, says he's "toyed" with the idea of competing in combat sports once his NBA career is finished.
Behind the Lines: A Fine Line Between Sports, Entertainment and Reality
My studious, shy, parochial school-attending granddaughters, Jayne and Norah, have a not-so-secret appreciation of violent, combat sports, at least theatrical combat. For a Christmas present, Staci and Adam surprised the girls with tickets to the WWE Live Holiday Tour at Pittsburgh’s PPG Paints Arena on December 27. Yes, the reflective eight-year-old Jayne, who competes in […]