The UFC is set to officially debut on CBS with part of UFC 326 airing on network TV on March 7.
On Tuesday, promotion officials announced that the event, which is headlined by a rematch between Max Holloway
and Charles Oliveira with the “BMF” title going up for grabs, will partially air on CBS with the entire card simulcast on Paramount+
The broadcast is set to run from 8 p.m. ET to 10 p.m. ET on CBS, which features the final hour of the prelims for UFC 326 along with the first hour of the main card from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The remainder of the main card including the main event airs exclusively on Paramount+.
The card for UFC 326 hasn’t been finalized yet so it’s unknown which fights will air on CBS during that two-hour broadcast.
This is the first crossover for the UFC to CBS after inking a massive seven year, $7.7 billion deal to move to Paramount from ESPN. As part of the deal, the UFC did away with the “pay-per-view” model for numbered events like UFC 326, which now just air on Paramount+ with no additional cos to subscribers.
When the deal was first struck, UFC officials confirmed plans for certain events to also air on CBS but the total number that could simulcast on the network isn’t known at this time.
The first UFC on Paramount+ event in January — UFC 324 from Las Vegas — scored nearly 5 million viewers and immediately become the highest-rated sporting event to air exclusively on the streamer.
In addition to Holloway vs. Oliveira 2 at UFC 326, the card also features a middleweight showdown between Reinier de Ridder and Caio Borralho as well as former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt taking on Xiao Long.
