Last year, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) announced that its fights would move to Paramount+ under a new broadcast rights deal for 2026, finally ending the pay-per-view system that has plagued this sport for years.
However, Canadians won’t be done with the PPV system quite yet.
According to press releases dating back to 2024, the UFC signed a multi-year exclusive rights deal with Sportsnet to become the exclusive broadcaster for Canada (Alongside TVA Sports), with the first PPV being UFC 297, where Sean Strickland took on Dricus Du Plessis.
The press release also mentioned that Sportsnet and TVA were previously the exclusive rights holders for the UFC from September 2011 through the end of 2014.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that the deal will exist forever. I imagine, depending on the success of the Paramount+ deal (first main card is this Saturday, Jan. 24), that the UFC will want to move towards a unified system for North America. Now, there isn’t any information on the exact term of the Sportsnet deal beyond it being “multiyear,” so it is to be expected that the deal will last for a few more years until Paramount purchases the Canadian rights as well.
If you want to watch the upcoming UFC card featuring Justin Gaethje vs. Paddy Pimblett, you can purchase the PPV on Sportsnet for $69.99, but that is a steep cost for one event. The PPV is also available on UFC’s FightPass. The streaming service, introduced in 2013, is available monthly for $10.99/mo, and annually for $61.99. The subscription to FightPass also gives you access to early prelims and other UFC content (Fight Nights, etc) in case you want to get the most out of your subscription.
If you want to watch it and don’t mind going out, most sports bars in the area will likely have it (if you are within the GTHA, Wild Wing restaurants tend to carry the fight from personal experience), but you will need to grab a seat early because spots can fill up fast.
