On August 18, 2011, the Ultimate Fighting Championship reached a seven-year broadcast agreement with Fox Sports. That seven year deal is quickly coming to an end. In the current Fox deal, UFC is paid $100 million per year from Fox.

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Well, it looks like the Fox / UFC era is over. Forbes and other media outlets are reporting that a UFC deal with NBC and ESPN are a done deal. It's rumored Fox has offered $200 Million a year to the UFC. The NBC / ESPN deal offers $320 million a year. The two networks will split the cost and UFC talent. Along with paying the UFC $320 million a year, each network will be responsible for promoting the fighters that fight under it's network.

Terez Owens reports ESPN and NBC have landed the next UFC TV deal. 320m per year. Details here but if they’re all true this is a seismic shift. https://t.co/gonGcIGZoM

— Jeremy Botter (@jeremybotter) April 11, 2018

Below is a more detailed layout of the deal in place :

• UFC will receive 320m/yr (160m/yr from each network).
• ESPN and NBC to pay for production ( current deal, UFC pays ).
• Contender series to replace tuf ( Split between both networks ).
• PPV’s reduced to 6 a year.
• New weight classes to be added - Men 165lb & female 105lb.
• Each network will have exclusive rights to certain fighters.
• ESPN and NBC will have streaming rights and the fightpass prelims moving to their streaming platforms.

Let's take a closer look at what some of these terms mean for us the fans ...

That is allot of change to how the current UFC model is run. 6 PPV's a year is a drastic cut in PPV's. While I agree there are too many PPV's currently being offered, I just don't see the UFC agreeing to only six a year. If this rumor is true we can likely expect an increase in PPV cost and an increase in PPV quality.

Another aspect of the deal that peaked my interest was there will be two new weight divisions added. The 165 lb men's division, which I am sure will get mixed results. Some fans ( and fighters ) have been asking for this division for some time while others believe it will just dilute the talent in the 155 and 175 lb divisions. I myself have mixed feelings on this but am not apposed to the Idea.

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And then we have the new women's divison. One thing I don't think we need is a 105 lb women's division. If we agree with UFC displaying WMMA or not doesn't really factor in anymore. UFC showcases it and it's here to stay. The problem with adding another division is WMMA has a lack of talent as it is. I think that UFC needs to focus on getting more stars and talent in their current WMMA divisions before adding more into the mix. This likely results in some watered down cards.

Each network will have exclusive rights to certain fighters. This could cause some minor problems with fans getting the match ups they want to see. If fighter A is under the NBC brand and fighter B is exclusive to ESPN then aside from the two being scheduled on one of six PPV events, we may never get to see that match being made.

What do you think of all these changes ? Give your opinions below.

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