Apr 13, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; UFC president Dana White during UFC 300 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Earlier UFC start times for events coming soon?

Originally posted on MMA on SI | By Zain Bando | Last updated Aug 12, 2025 7:28 PM ET

The UFC’s Paramount Plus deal is still tough to process for some, mainly due to the shift away from pay-per-view.

Therefore, this means that with one flat fee, UFC content will be accessible to all U.S. subscribers, regardless of which Paramount tier one subscribes to.

The possibilities are endless, whether it's Ilia Topuria, Jon Jones, Conor McGregor, or another star competing on CBS/Paramount.

For UFC fans, it's a win-win and a huge money-saver.

Could UFC Start Times Be Impacted?

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Although the deal calls for 43 events per year over the next seven years, beginning next January, which equates to 30 Fight Nights and 13 formerly pay-per-view (or marquee numbered events), there remain just as many questions as there are answers.

One of those questions remains the start times of the events in the new era, something largely untouched over the last several years. Although not addressed directly, UFC CEO Dana White remains largely optimistic that various logistical hurdles will resolve themselves.

“We have to figure that out,” White told the New York Post. “Listen, I think that ‘Contender Series’ is the best product on television. I fly tomorrow to do Episode 1 of ‘Contender Series.’ There are still a lot of things in this deal that haven’t been announced and aren’t done yet. But yeah, that’s one of them. I look forward to getting that wrapped up, too.”

White added that not everything is clear regarding how the business will evolve. Some suggest the CBS deal could look awfully similar to FOX regarding the timing of events.

“And how can we work together to achieve everything we both want to achieve over the next seven years?” White asked.

Paramount/UFC Relationship Still In Infancy

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White doesn’t appear rushed to figure it out right away.

“So that still all needs to get together. So we haven’t done any of that yet,” White added. “We’ll now start getting together and start figuring out how to, build our businesses over the next, I go in five year increments. So what are we going to do over the next five years? That still needs to happen.”

White said one-off pay-per-views are a possibility, but nothing is finalized.

"We’re partners, so whatever our partner wanted to do, we were going to dive in and work with them and, like I said, figure out how we both help each other throughout the term of this relationship," White said. "So we were, well, hey, we’re going to be on pay-per-view this afternoon. The pay-per-view business is still alive. We’re not dead."

For now, though, more remains to be seen.