The Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC (R), is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company. Since its inception three decades ago the UFC has risen to be one of the most popular sports conglomerates in the world. Since 1993 the UFC has put on over 500 events. These events have produced household names such as Connor McGregor, Rhonda Rousey, Chuck Liddell, and many others.
The UFC has two main types of events: UFC pay-per-views and UFC Fight Night. For many years these broadcast rights belonged to 21st Century Fox; however, in 2019 the UFC struck a 5 year, $1.5B deal with ESPN to broadcast UFC events. ESPN will retain rights until 2025.
Consumers can order pay-per-view events and fight nights through ESPN+. Prelims are aired on ESPN which can be accessed through several different streaming services. UFC fans can also get UFC Fight Pass to watch fight nights and old fights.
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What’s the UFC 2021 Schedule?
2021 is shaping up to have some monster UFC pay-per-views and UFC Fight Nights. Here is a list of upcoming UFC events:
| Event | Date | Time | Channel | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
How Can I Watch UFC Fights?
UFC events cant be watched three different ways: ESPN, ESPN+, and UFC Fight Pass.
The best ways to watch UFC are the following services. Please note that PPVs are only available through ESPN+.
- AT&T TV — ESPN, ESPN2
- ESPN+ — UFC and PPV events
- Hulu + Live TV — ESPN, ESPN2
- Sling TV — ESPN, ESPN2
- UFC Fight Pass — Early Prelims from PPV cards, 200+ live events from Invicta, PRIDE, FC, GLORY Kickboxing.
- YouTube TV — ESPN, ESPN2
ESPN+
ESPN+ is a subscription streaming platform that offers sports content from MLB, NFL, NCAA, MLS, UFC, Top Rank Boxing, and more. This service is the home of UFC pay-per-views and UFC Fight Nights. Users get access to past UFC fights.
The streaming service is one of the least expensive available costing $5.99/month or $59.99/annual. You can also bundle it with Hulu and Disney Plus for $12.99/month. Learn more about this special bundle.
New subscribers can bundle and save over 25% by purchasing the UFC PPV ($64.99 value) and ESPN+ annual plan for $84.98.
Existing subscribers can buy the latest UFC Pay-Per-Views by going to this page and selecting “Buy Now”. You can upgrade your monthly plan to the annual plan and receive the 25% savings by choosing “upgrade and buy” if you’re logged in.
UFC Fight Pass
UFC Fight Pass is a subscription-based video streaming service owned by the mixed martial arts promotion Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Fight Pass users have access to the Early Prelims from the biggest UFC Pay-Per-View cards along with over 200+ live events from promotions such as Invicta FC, GLORY Kickboxing, QUINTET (Team Submission Grappling), Eddie Bravo Invitational, Polaris, and many more.
The Fight Pass library contains every fight in the history of the UFC, as well as the entire video libraries of over 30 other MMA/boxing/kickboxing/Muay Thai/Jiu Jitsu promotions including PRIDE FC, WEC, Strikeforce, and Invicta FC. There are also thousands of hours of archived historical MMA programs including previous seasons of The Ultimate Fighter, Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series and exclusive newly-created shows.
UFC Fight Pass is a month to month subscription, but discounted rates are available for 6 and 12-month subscriptions. You can purchase UFC Fight Pass through your ESPN+ subscription.
Other Ways to Watch UFC
Another way to watch UFC fights is by signing up for a streaming service that offers ESPN. The UFC regularly airs preliminary fights for free to ESPN subscribers. The top cord-cutting services that offer ESPN are Sling TV, Hulu with Live TV, and AT&T NOW.
Sling TV
Sling TV offers the Sling Orange and Sling Blue plans. Both streaming plans cost $35/month or you can get Orange + Blue for $50/month. The Sling Orange plan includes ESPN which is where you find UFC prelims.
Hulu with Live TV
Subscribers can watch UFC prelims on ESPN. Hulu only offers one live streaming TV package which costs $64.99/month. In addition to sports, Hulu + Live TV contains over 60 channels. Other popular channels offered by this service are FS1, FS1, TNT, Nat Geo, Discovery Channel, FX/FXX, and more.
