The world’s prime mixed martial arts organization, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has inked a new extension of its broadcast partnership with the pay-TV network, BT Sport in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
The renewal includes all of the MMA promotion’s live events, such as UFC Fight Nights, and several other shoulder programmings. UFC PPV events will be accessible through the BT Sport Box Office service.
BT Sport has been the UFC’s UK telecast partner since 2013, with the most recent extension coming in 2019 after the advancement reached a deal with Eleven Sports that later fell through.
The accord is the broadcaster’s first significant rights renewal since BT completed its partnership deal with Warner Brothers Discovery earlier in the month.
Following a three-year pause, the UFC held its first UK event in March, with the Fight Night main event by Alexander Volkov vs Tom Aspinoll at the O2 Arena in London, and will come back to the same sports arena in July.
Dana White, UFC President, said, “We were blown away by the awesome response from the fans at our London event earlier this year. The fans from the UK and Ireland love this sport and they have always been great to us. And now, our roster of talent from these countries is the strongest it’s ever been.
“We’re thrilled to continue our partnership with BT Sport to keep promoting these athletes, building stars, and broadcasting the best combat sports events on the planet to these incredible fans.”
Rachel Knight, Sports Rights Director at BT Sport, commented, “We are entering a golden age for the sport in the UK and Ireland, with an incredibly exciting roster of local talent coming through. We look forward to working closely with these brilliant athletes and with UFC to continue to tell the stories and showcase the sport to our viewers in the years to come.”