Here’s something nobody saw coming: the UFC is taking its talents to Paramount. Not Netflix. Not re-upping with ESPN. Not even a late play from Amazon or Apple.

In a staggering seven-year, $7.7 billion deal, the UFC agrees to keep its programming mostly in one piece (thank you, MMA Gods!). It will stream exclusively on Paramount+, with certain events simulcast on CBS.

The biggest kicker here is that, despite some conflicting reports, the traditional pay-per-view model might be going away. So … is it possible … being a UFC fan is about to get cheaper?

That would be weird!

Lots of ins and outs to discuss here. This deal seems great for the UFC, maybe good for Paramount, possibly good for fans … but, once again, potentially extremely shitty for fighters. Plus, what would a UFC schedule even look like without PPV?

And did Paramount perhaps vastly overpay for UFC broadcast rights in order to appease the President of the United States?Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices