Paramount And UFC Expand Rights Deal To Canada Beginning In 2027

Paramount and the UFC, which kicked off a splashy rights deal last January, have agreed to expand their partnership to Canada.

The expansion covers 13 UFC “numbered events,” which have traditionally been known as pay-per-views. Under the Paramount deal, UFC action is included for all subscribers to Paramount+, with no extra charge. typically feature championship bouts on the main cards and showcase UFC’s biggest stars.

“Together we’re going to make it easier than ever for fans in Canada to watch the biggest fights in the sport,” UFC CEO Dana White said in a statement. “I love Canada and I’m very excited for the fans to be able to enjoy the Paramount experience.”

Rodrigo Mazón, Paramount+’s head of direct-to-consumer in Latin America and Canada, said the expansion “lets us serve a deeply engaged MMA audience, while reinforcing what Paramount+ is built for: premium live sports and globally relevant entertainment.”

Details on the first UFC events streaming on Paramount+ in Canada will be announced later this year, the companies said.

In 2025, soon after closing its merger with Skydance, Paramount clinched a 7-year deal with the UFC as the mixed martial arts circuit was wrapping its deal with ESPN. The $7.7 billion agreement, spanning the U.S. and Latin America, signaled to Hollywood and the sports world that the David Ellison-led Paramount, which now is looking to close a far bigger merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, was a major new player on the media scene.

While Paramount+ has grown steadily and in some ways punched above its weight, the streaming service remains on the second tier, lagging behind Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video and HBO Max. Ellison is making a number of aggressive moves designed to boost the company’s standing in streaming.

The UFC has been the top live draw on Paramount+ since the streams began at the start of 2026. Paramount says more than 10 million households have watched more than 100 million hours of UFC programming on Paramount+. Because the prior deal with ESPN required an extra pay-per-view fee, on top of an ESPN+ subscription, viewership on the comparatively cheaper Paramount+ setup has been more than 15 times the average for pay-per-views over the past two years, the company said.