UFC, Disney+ and ESPN announced a multi-year media rights agreement on Monday, October 19, making ESPN on Disney+ the exclusive home of the UFC in the Philippines. The deal begins this Saturday, October 24, with UFC 333: Volkanovski vs Evloev, broadcast live from the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Neither the fee nor the exact length of the agreement was disclosed.
Under the deal, ESPN on Disney+ Philippines will broadcast all UFC events live, along with a curated slate of original programming including UFC Countdown, UFC Connected, The Ultimate Fighter and Road to UFC, the Asia-Pacific tournament that offers the region's top MMA prospects a pathway to the UFC. Content will be available through the Disney+ app and via distribution partners Globe, GCast/AliPay and Cignal. Existing subscribers pay nothing extra, according to reporting cited by CageOracle.
The timing for Filipino fans is late night into early morning. UFC 333 prelims begin at 10pm Philippine time on Saturday, October 24, with the main card starting at 2am on Sunday, October 25, which is why some local outlets list the event on the 25th. The card features two title fights: featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski (28-4) defending against unbeaten Movsar Evloev (20-0), and a bantamweight trilogy bout between champion Petr Yan (20-5) and former champion Merab Dvalishvili (21-5), tied 1-1.
The announcement is framed by both sides as a strategic fit. Kevin Chang, UFC senior vice president and head of Asia, called the Philippines home to one of the most passionate and engaged combat sports fanbases in the world. Kylie Watson-Wheeler, head of ESPN Asia Pacific, described the Philippines as an incredibly important sports market in the region and said bringing properties like the UFC strengthens ESPN's position as a leading sports destination across APAC.
Context matters here. In the United States, ESPN lost UFC rights after 2025 to Paramount, which signed a seven-year, $7.7 billion deal that moved every event to Paramount+ and ended pay-per-view, CBS News reported in August 2025. Latin America followed, switching from ESPN and Disney+ to Paramount+ in January 2026, according to En Cancha. CageOracle reads the Philippines deal as Disney picking up a UFC market after those losses, and Paramount has said it would consider UFC rights outside the US as they become available.
The Philippines agreement is also the UFC's second international rights deal in recent days. On Friday, October 16, RMC Sport extended its exclusive UFC deal in France, adding Zuffa Boxing and UFC BJJ, Sportcal reported. RMC has carried the UFC in France for 12 years. Sportcal also notes the Disney+ rights portfolio in the Philippines already includes the NBA and March Madness, and that the UFC addition follows the recent launch of the ESPN brand on Disney+ across a range of global markets.
One notable gap: Sportcal reports there are currently no active Filipino fighters on the UFC roster, though past stars such as Mark Munoz competed in the octagon. That makes the market's value purely about audience rather than homegrown talent, and it puts weight on shoulder programming like Road to UFC to eventually develop a Filipino contender who can drive local engagement beyond the launch window.
Why it matters
The Philippines deal shows UFC rights fragmenting market by market after Paramount took the US and Latin America from ESPN and Disney+. Disney re-entering a key Asian combat sports market signals that international rights remain contested, and the Road to UFC pathway gives the region a development pipeline worth tracking.
Builder angle
A rights tracker that maps UFC broadcast partners by territory, with deal start dates, exclusivity scope and local start times converted automatically for fans, would have real utility as international deals keep shifting. Pairing it with a Road to UFC prospect tracker would serve the Asia-Pacific audience this deal targets.
What to watch next
Watch how UFC 333 performs on the new platform this weekend, whether Paramount pursues UFC rights in other APAC markets, and whether Road to UFC produces a Filipino fighter who can anchor local marketing. RMC Sport's rebrand to CMA Sport and its expanded Zuffa Boxing and UFC BJJ coverage are also worth following in France.
Sources
- www.ufc.com Source checked 2026-10-20
- cageoracle.com Source checked 2026-10-20
- www.sportcal.com Source checked 2026-10-20