Zuffa Boxing may soon join the UFC at Paramount.
The new boxing promotion officially being launched in 2026 by TKO Group Holdings, parent company to the UFC, with financial backing from Saudi Arabia, is reportedly nearing a multi-year deal with Paramount.
John Ourand at The Puck reported on Saturday that Zuffa Boxing was “likely” signing with Paramount with an announcement expected “as soon as next week.” That tracks with additional sources telling MMA Fighting that Zuffa Boxing is likely to close on a broadcast rights deal very soon.
UFC CEO Dana White teased some potential news coming on social media with a post that mirrored one he dropped a day before the UFC announcing a landmark seven year deal worth $7.7 billion with Paramount that kicks off next year. White then deleted that post and admitted he jumped the gun but all signs pointed towards the Zuffa Boxing broadcast deal coming soon.
“I would just tell you that we’re expecting with the boxing organization that we’re putting on an average of call it 12 fights a year, 12 cards a year for each of the next five years,” TKO president and chief operating officer Mark Shapiro said during a quarterly financial call with investors in May. “Still putting that plan together and obviously working hand in hand with our friends from Saudi.”
In addition to the regular fight cards, Zuffa Boxing plans to put on “two to three superfights” per year after effectively launching with the promotion of the recent Terence Crawford vs. Canelo Alvarez card that aired on Netflix.
Executives at TKO including Shapiro and company CEO Ari Emanuel have been in talks for several months on a potential broadcast deal after a very busy year that included the UFC’s new partnership with Paramount as well as WWE moving the organization’s premium live events from Peacock to ESPN.
While White and WWE president Nick Khan are both working on Zuffa Boxing, the promotion itself is being fully funded by the Saudi Arabia General Entertainment Authority headed up by Turki Alalshikh.
Assuming this deal closes, both the UFC and Zuffa Boxing would begin airing events on Paramount starting in 2026.
Paramount, which was merged with Skydance in a multi-billion deal, is led by David Ellison with the backing of his father Larry Ellison, who just recently became the richest man in the world. Ellison is also reportedly looking to expand the family’s footprint in the media industry with interest in potentially purchasing Warner Bros. Discovery as well.