UFC extends agreement with BT Sport to broadcast EMEA & Asia fight nights

BT Sport agrees deal to show UFC London live plus more fight night shows

The first event this will include will be UFC Fight Night London: Gustafsson vs Manuwa on the 8th March at O2 Arena, London.

The UFC has announced an agreement with BT Sport to broadcast its six EMEA Fight Nights live, in addition to delayed broadcasts of the Asia Fight Nights. The agreement is an extension to the current contract, which already sees the channel broadcast the UFC’s global events, and will now offer more live UFC content on TV.

The deal will begin with UFC Fight Night London: Gustafsson vs Manuwa on 8th March live from London’s O2 Arena. The EMEA and ASIA Fight Nights are a collection of events throughout some the major cities in Europe and Asia as the UFC begins to significantly increase its presence in the regions through locally driven prime time content. The new access will give subscribers live prime time viewing access, including every bout on the fight card and behind the scenes footage, along with our weekly Beyond The Octagon programming.

Garry Cook, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of UFC EMEA, said:

“We are delighted to be working with BT Sport on our exciting new EMEA and Asia Fight Nights. They have been a fantastic partner of the UFC here in the UK and this will only strengthen our relationship.

“British fans want to see more and more of the UFC during prime time TV and this extended agreement will allow them to watch every single fight, and much more, throughout the EMEA and Asia Fight Nights.”

Simon Green, Head of BT Sport said:

“UFC is one of the fastest growing sports in the world and we’re very happy to be adding these new FIGHT NIGHTS to our UFC content.  We know that UFC fans in the UK will be delighted to hear this news.”

UFC Fight Night London: Gustafsson vs Manuwa starts at 5.30 p.m. GMT at the O2 Arena. For further details on the event and the full fight card, please visit http://uk.ufc.com/event/ufc-london#/fight.
For more information about UFC, its events and programming, please visit http://uk.ufc.com.

Kingdom MMA reaction:

This is of course huge news for the UK fans who have been asking questions regarding TV coverage of the UFC London event for a long time now. I always thought that a deal would be agreed for this event, as it was with the Singapore event to show it on BT Sport. However to have agreed a deal for all EMEA events to be shown live is more than I expected as I expected the non UK events to be a Fight Pass only event.

The fact the Asia cards will be shown on tape delay isn't a problem either, lets face it. No TV provider would allow UFC to be shown live at 11am anyway and I quite enjoyed watching the Singapore card in the evening. If you want to watch it live then the option to watch on Fight Pass will still be available anyway.

From the wording of the press release it may even include showing the prelims as well for all of these events as it says "this extended agreement will allow them to watch every single fight". If this is the case then it is brilliant news and a massive step to help promote the up and coming British talent on the UFC London card such as Brad Scott and Luke Barnatt who's fights never disappoint and more fans will now have the opportunity to see these warriors fight.