The big news of the week is the UFC’s five-year, $1.5 billion broadcast arrangement with ESPN (effective 2019), ending a seven-year relationship with FOX Sports. Initially, the UFC had inked a $150 million/year agreement to have up to 15 fight cards air on the ESPN+ streaming service, but the television rights were still up for grabs, leaving FOX and other networks in play. It was soon revealed that FOX would sign a five-year, $1 billion contract to air WWE’s weekly SmackDown shows, calling into question whether or not the UFC and FOX would re-up.

We got out answer late Tuesday night, as another $150 million/year bid went to ESPN, who will air 10 Fight Night cards on its linear networks, as well as pay-per-view preliminary card specials, and 5 more shows on ESPN+.

In Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer newsletter (subscription only), there are some juicy tidbits in there about the negotiations between the UFC and FOX, and how FOX actually had a larger television offer than did ESPN.

It appears that FOX, when making the deal, was not willing to continue its previously on the table $200 million offer for UFC, since the next day reports were that UFC’s television rights were going to ESPN for $150 million in a separate deal from the ESPN+ streaming deal announced last week. Both UFC and ESPN on 5/23 officially confirmed both the television and the streaming deal, pushed as a $300 million per year average combined deal worth $1.5 billion and covering the period from January 1, 2019, through December 31, 2023. [...] FOX was wanting exclusivity for UFC, although was willing to accept a joint offer, but not at the $10 million per show price tag, although that figure is a little misleading because there is a lot of other programming involved. FOX told WME IMG last week that they were pulling their offer off the table, which clearly coincided with using that $200 million budgeted and offered to sign WWE. It’s notable that they, in making the choice, felt 52 weeks of Smackdown on Friday nights was more valuable than 20 UFC shows combined with the ancillary programming that to a degree carried FS 1 and dominated programming on FS 2, which will now have hundreds of hours that would be needed to fill. FS 1 does consider ESPN its prime rival, so UFC going to ESPN may have changed the dynamic as compared if they had gone with NBC or Turner. One television insider who alerted us first about the FOX negotiations with WWE, said, “UFC played chicken with FOX and lost.”

There was reported expectation that WME-IMG were looking for rights in the neighborhood of $400 to even $450 million, then more recent reports had it in the $300-$400 million range. According to Meltzer, the $300 million deal with ESPN “was more than they were actually expecting when WME IMG bought the company,” although he added that “after the WWE deal, the $300 million deal, even representing a $140 million increase from this year, is a disappointment.”

One of the other aspects of the UFC-ESPN arrangement is that there won’t be a reduction in annual pay-per-view cards. The UFC has run 12-13 PPVs regularly over the past several years, and that remains unchanged under the new contract. As if that wasn’t enough, Meltzer also wrote that it’s believed that there will also be “about five events on Fight Pass.” That means we could return to what transpired in 2014, when the UFC ran a staggering 46 shows, including two in one day on multiple occasions.

That isn’t to say that the UFC hadn’t entertained cutting down on PPV shows. However, according to Meltzer, that was “back when the expectation was getting $200 million for television rights,” as opposed to the $150 million they wound up with.

The main message to fight fans: prepare for even more live UFC over the next five years, not less.