“UFC on HBO” could soon become reality.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) officially moved its entire United States broadcast package to Paramount+ at the beginning of 2026. However, the promotion may eventually spread its programming across several additional networks—including HBO and TNT.
TKO Group Holdings President and Chief Operating Officer Mark Shapiro revealed during Wednesday’s third-quarter financial call that discussions are already underway about expanding UFC’s reach across Skydance’s
growing media empire.
“We will be maximizing HBO, TNT, Paramount+ and CBS,” Shapiro said, explaining that the ultimate goal is to increase UFC’s audience, viewership and overall engagement.
The new possibilities stem from Paramount’s recently completed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. The massive transaction brought CBS, Paramount+, HBO, HBO Max, CNN, TNT Sports and several other major platforms under the same Skydance corporate umbrella. The company also intends to combine its two streaming services over time.
That gives UFC considerably more places to showcase its product, although no specific events, distribution plans or launch dates have been announced.
UFC’s seven-year, $7.7 billion deal still makes Paramount+ its primary home, with all numbered events and Fight Night cards available through the streaming service. Select marquee events can also be simulcast on CBS.
The addition of HBO and TNT could create new opportunities for live cards, major-event simulcasts, documentaries and other supplemental programming. That is only a potential outcome at this stage, but Shapiro made it clear that TKO and Skydance are actively considering how to use every platform available to them.
A UFC card on HBO would carry some historical significance.
HBO was once synonymous with elite combat sports, broadcasting some of boxing’s biggest fights for 45 years before abandoning live boxing at the end of 2018. Its final boxing broadcast took place on Dec. 8 of that year.
Now, nearly a decade later, UFC could return live combat sports to the iconic premium network.
For fans, the biggest unanswered question is whether additional distribution would make UFC events easier to find or scatter them across several different platforms. Paramount+ remains the promotion’s central home for now, but the days of UFC existing almost exclusively on one streaming service may already be numbered.
