Michael Chandler was the first UFC hunter for Rep Paramount after the $ 7.7 billion deal of the promotion.
The UFC's temporary employment contract with ESPN ends at the end of this year. A new era starts in 2026, because Paramount wins the battle for the broadcasting rights of the UFC and takes away from ESPN+ and the expensive pay-per-view model that has been present for decades, long before ESPN arrived in 2019.
'Notorious' PPV -Superster Conor McGregor said 'Long Live the Irish King' after the news on Monday.
McGregor was initially planned to meet Michael Chandler on PPV last summer on UFC 303, but the game was due to a toe injury for McGregor.
Chandler gave his two cents to the new Paramount Deal shortly after his rival.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Michael Chandler expected UFC to go to Netflix or YouTube TV
Many fans were surprised to see Chandler in a Paramount T-shirt for everyone else; Others were not, because Chandler is considered a 'company man' for the UFC and the veteran previously fought on Paramount when he fought for Bellator MMA.
“The Ultimate Company man,” said a fan about Chandler who wore a Paramount-Gucci shirt (it reads Gucci on the back).
Chandler spoke about the new UFC-Paramount deal on his YouTube channel.
“I was very surprised this morning when I saw the news that it was of the utmost importance,” said Chandler.
“I didn't even think Paramount was on the table,” Chandler admitted.
“I never really thought of Paramount.
“There was a lot of speculation that we would end up on Netflix. Much is logical. TKO Group, WWE … but it is also logical to spread your products over several different streaming platforms.
“I really thought we would end up on Netflix or maybe a YouTube TV, Prime Video,” Chandler added.
“It is clear that with the way the landscape now looks, there are a million different streaming platforms. Everything has been moved to it …”
Joe Rogan liked the idea that UFC stayed at ESPN
The UFC's temporary employment contract with ESPN started in 2019 and will be running out at the end of this year.
Although the partnership has been far from perfect, especially with today's piracy as a result of the pay-per-view model and the annual/monthly pricnagel of ESPN+, the sport has grown considerably in recent years.
Joe Rogan said he liked ESPN+ for how accessible it was to view fights on the app, as well as the media attention.
“One of the things we benefit from is ESPN, not only as the host of the fighting, but also about the fighting,” said the UFC commentator weeks ago about the Joe Rogan experience.
“All extra reporting, all sports center talk, all the different shows they have on ESPN+, the shows after the fight … they are all huge,”
“The breakdowns, people love those s-. They love the pre-Fight breakdowns. Alan Jouban, Rashad Evans …”
At the time, Rogan said he had hoped that the UFC would stay at ESPN.
“I love ESPN. I like to get it from the app. It's easy,” Rogan added.