Mixed martial arts promotion the Ultimate Fighting Championship has agreed a new multi-year rights deal with pay-television operator Fox Networks Group Latin America.
The contract results in the UFC returning to Fox in the region, with the broadcaster to air over 160 hours of live content annually, including prime time pay-per-view events, UFC Fight Nights, and the Ultimate Fighter reality television series.
The partnership kicks off on May 13 with UFC 211: Miocic vs. Dos Santos 2 in Dallas, Texas. Fox Sports will air both the prelims and the main card live.
UFC content will be available on Fox Sports and Fox Premium App & TV, FNG Latin America’s entertainment platform, reaching over 44 million households in Spanish-speaking Latin American countries. Mexico will become part of the licensed territory starting from January 1, 2019.
UFC senior vice-president of international and content, Joe Carr, said: “The opportunity to have our premier content available in over 44 million homes will immediately accelerate the growth of the UFC brand and the sport of MMA across the region. The emergence of young Latin American mixed martial artists coupled with Fox’s marketing muscle and distribution, will allow us to expand our event output beyond Brazil and Mexico and into the rest of Latin America in the coming years.”
Francisco Pazmiño, senior vice-president of acquisitions and programming strategy for Fox Sports Latin America, added: “We will seek to create synergies with the Fox Sports team in the United States, also UFC right holders, to deliver the most complete UFC experience to our fans. With this new deal, we will position Fox Sports via our ‘Fox Fight Club’ franchise as the number one destination for fighting sports in the region.”