The UFC’s new broadcasting deal with Paramount+ also gives the flexibility of occasionally airing fights on network television via CBS as well, and that will be utilized for the first time at the upcoming UFC 326 event in Las Vegas on March 7th.
The newly announced plan for the event is for the last hour of the prelims and the first hour of the main card to be aired on CBS, while the subscription channel Paramount+ will carry the full broadcast as always.
At this stage the bout order for UFC 326 hasn’t been locked in, so we don’t know for sure what the fights airing on CBS will be.
What we do know is that Paramount+ will still be the place to see the main event ‘BMF’ title fight between Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira that headlines the show, and the co-main event featuring Caio Borralho vs. Reiner de Ridder.
This won’t be the first time CBS has aired an MMA event as back in the late 2000’s they dipped their toe into the water by airing some star-studded events held by the EliteXC promotion.
The first event in 2008 to be aired was headlined by YouTube bareknuckle boxing sensation Kimbo Slice at the height of his popularity going up against James Thompson, while the likes of Robbie Lawler and Gina Carano also featured on the main card.
The event was watched by an average of 4.85 million viewers – strong numbers for an MMA event in those days, particularly without the UFC brand behind it.
Two more EliteXC events followed, with the first being headlined by Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith alongside a supporting cast including Nick Diaz, Jake Shields and Cris Cyborg, which only drew 2.6 million viewers.
That underlined the fact that Kimbo Slice was by far the biggest draw for the promotion and so he returned for the next CBS show against ultra-late replacement Seth Petruzelli, who shocked the famed brawler’s fans by TKO’ing him in just 14 seconds.
The event was watched by an average of 4.5 million viewers, but Kimbo’s loss was a huge blow for the promotion, who were already struggling financially, and led to them folding soon afterwards.
That wasn’t the end for CBS though as in 2009 they started airing select shows from the Strikeforce promotion, starting with one headlined by Fedor Emelianenko and Brett Rodgers, which showed there was life after Kimbo Slice with an average of 4 million viewers tuning in.
The fact that the legendary heavyweight Fedor was TKO’d in the main event was far from ideal though , but nevertheless in 2010 they returned with another CBS event, this time fronted by Dan Henderson vs. Jake Shields.
Unfortunately for all concerned the event was marred in controversy after a post-fight brawl broke out after the main event when Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller got into the ring and started provoking Shields, leading to the likes of Nick and Nate Diaz, Gilbert Melendez joining Shields in retaliating with their fists.
The chaotic scenes were a bad look for the sport and garnered a lot of negative press, and together with the fact that the event had only averaged 2.9 million viewers it brought an end to Strikeforce events on CBS.
The sport has come a long way in the 15 years since then though due to the UFC’s breakthrough into mainstream acceptance following long-standing television deals with FOX and then ESPN.
The way events are consumed these days is different too though, as was evidenced by the fact that an average of almost 5 million viewers watched the first UFC broadcast of this new era last month on subscription streaming service Paramount+.
So network television is no longer the holy grail it once was, but being on CBS will still provide a very welcome boost to the UFC’s overall viewership for key events like UFC 326, as well as the upcoming UFC: White House event in June, which will also be simulcast on the channel.
