After a deal with Eleven Sports fell through, BT Sport has confirmed a multi-year broadcast rights deal to remain the exclusive home of UFC in the UK and Republic of Ireland.
The new deal commences in January and means that all live UFC numbered and Fight Night events will continue to be shown on BT Sport’s TV channels, as well as BTSport.com and the award-winning BT Sport app.
Andy Haworth, Managing Director of Strategy and Content in BT Consumer, welcomed the renewal: “BT Sport and UFC have been partners since our launch in 2013, and we’re delighted this will now continue.
“We’ve worked hard to offer fans high-quality, fresh and innovative UFC coverage across all of our channels, and in particular on social media, which fans are responding really well to. This is great news for our viewers, who can continue to enjoy UFC with BT Sport.”
BT Sport will also continue to provide UK MMA fans with over 100 hours of non-live programming per year as it provides a comprehensive combination of build-up, live streaming and catch-up video content around every UFC event.
Which includes thousands of hours of the best UFC content to from an unrivalled library of classic fights, full cards and episodes of popular shows such as The Ultimate Fighter.
David Shaw, UFC’s International and Content Senior Vice President added: “BT Sport have proven to be an engaged, committed and passionate partner.
“We have worked closely together to grow the sport, brand and athletes in the UK and Ireland over the past five years.
“Our fans have made it clear how much they enjoy BT’s coverage of UFC and we are delighted to continue our partnership with them.”
BT Sports recently launched BT Sport Box Office, a pay-per-view channel available on BT TV and the Sky platform, it was utilised for both the boxing matches between Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin were broadcast on BT PPV, as well as the heavyweight bout between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder.