Paramount just paid UFC $7.7B for seven years worth of US media rights and now Matt Belloni at Puck is reporting that Paramount is proclaiming austerity when it comes to paying famous Hollywood producer Taylor Sheridan.
No pressure to deliver in 2026, Mark Shapiro!
This week’s MMA Draw podcast is all about covering the major internal conflicts at TKO. It’s not just about what is happening inside the walls of their front office or on Wall Street. The real fight is between what is happening outside of the cage and how it is impacting the morale of the fighters inside the Octagon.
Ilia Topuria has spent his post UFC 317 momentum pushing for a boxing match with Terence Crawford. Team Tom Aspinall spent their UFC 321 fight week in Abu Dhabi pushing for a boxing pay day after his next three UFC fights are done. Let’s just say this didn’t go over with brand new Zuffa Boxing promoter Dana White.
Dana White didn’t exactly express much sympathy in his UFC 321 post-fight press conference after Cyril Gane gouged Tom Aspinall in the eyes.
The message from UFC fighters is clear since the announcement of the new Paramount $7.7B media rights deal: we want our money. And if they aren’t getting paid, they want big boxing pay days from Turki Alalshikh. Little do the fighters or their associates understand the dramatic compression in boxing salaries that is likely going to take place over the next decade with Nick Khan and Dana White in charge of Zuffa Boxing.
The UFC Heavyweight scene is a mess. Boxing’s heavyweight scene is largely controlled by Frank Warren. Most UFC “divisions” are sorely lacking in quality depth and star power despite the organization having hundreds of fighters under contract.
This push-and-pull tension is front and center as part of a much larger dynamic heading into UFC’s 2026 Paramount campaign.
Our free portion of this week’s podcast dives deeper into TKO talent relations and why there isn’t that loving feeling any more. The dilution in quality matchmaking and fight cards ten years into Endeavor’s reign of UFC ownership absolutely can directly tied to the U Fight Cheap fighter pay policies that has generated tens of billions of dollars in revenue for TKO.
Our paid portion of this week’s podcast takes a closer look at current UFC & WWE ratings. What can we realistically expect for subscription numbers with UFC on Paramount and WWE on ESPN Unlimited? The next six months will be a huge test for Nick Khan in regards to how many new organic subscribers ESPN can attract for WWE events like Survivor Series, Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia, and Wrestlemania 42 in Las Vegas. It’s not just recruiting subscribers but keeping them.
Customers like us are no longer the primary audience. The masters TKO has to serve are anxious executives at Netflix, Disney, and NBC Universal.
This is the volatile landscape that so many old-school boxing promoters are facing and have no idea how to navigate. Nick Khan is no longer there to negotiate media rights on behalf of Top Rank. Recent comments made by Oscar De La Hoya and Frank Warren to Ariel Helwani demonstrate the complete lack of understanding of the TKO multi-monopoly machine and what the Wall Street version of fight business financialization looks this. This is ugly. 2026 is going to make fresh roadkill out of some big players in the fight scene. Who will be able to adapt and survive in this new climate?
Plus, our bonus take on the long-term impact of hard-wiring prop bets and parlays into the DNA of watching UFC fights. What is the true value of UFC media rights without degenerate gambling? UFC has already dealt with one major gambling scandal involving James Krause. What happens in the future if bigger names from UFC get caught up in an NBA-style gambling scandal (or two) like Chauncey Billups?
As recently reported by Newsweek and The Los Angeles Times, court documents from the FBI allege that boxer Adrien Broner was supposedly involved in dice games with NBA players worth over $6 million dollars.
I guess it’s a good thing MMA fighters don’t get paid “boxing money”?
Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro may have enhanced control of media narratives thanks to their deep and extensive network at WME Group (e.g. clients like Stephen A. Smith) but public interest in sports gambling scandals is heating up because there is a growing number of angry sports betters who feel that the reason they are losing so much money is due to rigged or manipulated outcomes.
Who knew that a 60-minute MMA Draw fight podcast could get this intense?
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Nate Wilcox is Editor-in-Chief of The MMA Draw. He founded BloodyElbow.com in 2007 and sold it in 2024.
Zach Arnold is a lead opinion writer for The MMA Draw on Substack. His archives can be read at FightOpinion.com.
