It is being heavily rumored online today that BT have secured the rights to broadcast the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) within the UK.
ESPN is the current provider but that agreement is up in August. With ESPN UK & Ireland being bought over by BT and therefore securing their exit strategy from the UK market and the UFC themselves admitting they were close to securing a deal with a new partner a lot of people assumed that they would be making the switch to Sky Sports, however it now appears that they will be moving in the same direction as ESPN and the BT Sports Channel will be the new home for the worlds premier MMA promotion.
BT have been busy signing up varying sports rights of recent including football matches from the Barclay’s Premier League matches, Serie A, France’s La Ligue 1 and Major League Soccer in the US. Added to that is some Rugby Premier League matches & a deal with the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association).
As well as covering live events it is thought that the deal will include at least 1 weekly magazine show to be aired during prime time in order to help promote and build the sport/brand within the UK. I should stress that nothing official has been released by the UFC yet, we will ofcourse update you as and when more information becomes available.
Ross Stevenson
KUMITE 