Dana White has revealed early indications are that UFC’s debut on Paramount+ was a success.
Once UFC’s broadcast deal with ESPN expired, the top MMA promotion secured a seven-year, $7.7 billion streaming deal with Paramount. The deal marked the end of the pay-per-view era for UFC. On Saturday, UFC 324 marked the promotion’s debut on Paramount+.
Speaking to reporters during the UFC 324 post-fight presser, White didn’t have the streaming numbers available. Still, White was given some promising early indicators.
“I just talked to Ari [Emanuel], Ari said we’ll have numbers on Monday or Tuesday,” White said. “This exceeded expectations beyond belief for Paramount. We know it killed it, we just don’t know the exact number yet. They’re saying it exceeded by double.”
UFC 324 was headlined by an interim lightweight title fight. Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett went the distance, and Gaethje captured the gold by earning a unanimous decision. Gaethje has earned a title unification bout against main titleholder Ilia Topuria, who is currently on hiatus from pro MMA competition.
The show was supposed to feature Amanda Nunes’ comeback. “The Lioness” was scheduled to challenge Kayla Harrison for the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship. Things didn’t go as planned due to Harrison’s neck surgery.
Former UFC Bantamweight Champion Sean O’Malley and Song Yadong took the co-headlining spot as a result. O’Malley put himself back in the win column via unanimous decision. The “Suga” show is hoping to get a rematch with current UFC Bantamweight Champion Petr Yan.
No. 5-ranked UFC heavyweight Waldo Cortes-Acosta shared the Octagon with fan favorite Derrick Lewis. There was no celebration for “The Black Beast,” as he suffered a second-round TKO. Cortes-Acosta has now extended his winning streak to three.
Did you enjoy the first UFC show under the Paramount+ streaming deal? Share your opinion in the comment section below.