Dana White expects UFC will land with a ‘way more global’ platform in next media rights deal

When it comes to his company’s ongoing media rights negotiations, UFC president Dana White has played things close to the vest.

But during a recent appearance on the Full Send Podcast, White shared at least one major change he’s anticipating for the MMA giant in its next deal.

“The world’s going to change a lot in the next year with our rights deals,” White said. “More than likely, we’re going to end up with a platform that is way more global than we are now.”

Asked if he had anything else he could share about the ongoing media rights negotiations, White said he had “nothing” other than that UFC is currently “in the middle of talks.” Still, it’s not particularly difficult to read between the lines.

White’s comments would seemingly indicate that his company’s next deal will either replace its current partner in ESPN or split the rights between the Worldwide Leader and another platform — a strategy he’s previously stated he’s open to. As far as the “global” aspect of his statement, it’s difficult to not immediately think of Netflix, which has emerged as one of UFC’s primary suitors and has a preexisting relationship with its parent company, TKO, via WWE Raw and the upcoming Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford Zuffa Boxing event.

It’s also worth noting that Amazon’s Prime Video is also vying for UFC’s rights and would certainly qualify as a more global platform than the promotion’s current setup with ESPN, which will expire at the end of 2025. But whether it’s with Netflix, Prime Video or a more stealth suitor, White remains confident his company’s next media rights deal will follow the same trajectory that its previous ones has.

“Every year that we’ve done a deal — if you think about it, Spike TV we started. From there, we went to Fox. From there, we went to ESPN,” he said. “We’ve leveled up every single time and it made the sport bigger and bigger and bigger.”