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Paramount’s Early Knockout

By most metrics, the UFC’s Paramount+ debut was an unqualified success, even as diehard fans complained about the abundance of post-P.P.V. advertising. How can David Ellison & Co. build on the momentum?

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Mauricio Ruffy ufc knockout
If the ad-load issue is the only thing UFC fans used to ESPN+’s pay-per-view experience are complaining about, it may be a transient annoyance at worst. Photo: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Julia Alexander
January 27, 2026

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Back in August, when Paramount Skydance inked the company’s blockbuster seven-year, $7.7 billion deal with the UFC, Jesse Sisgold probably would have given his left arm (via submission) for the kind of ratings debut that the league had on Saturday night. The main event, a matchup between Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett, amassed nearly 5 million streaming views, making it Paramount+’s largest exclusive live event to date. It was the most households that the UFC had reached in nearly a decade across linear, broadcast, and streaming, per Nielsen and Adobe. For Sisgold, Paramount’s head of global sports entertainment, it was the kind of splashy debut that might convince first-time viewers to seek out UFC 325 this week.

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