Where to Watch MMA: Everything You Need to Know

I think it’s safe to say that:

MMA is one of the best spectator sports in the world, both in person and on TV.

That’s why I am going to break down exactly where to watch MMA, covering various organisations and how you can go about watching them.

A quick disclaimer before we begin. Where you are in the world will likely impact how you can watch MMA live. This is due to the licensing deals that these organizations have with various broadcast networks.

That said, I’ll cover various sources you can utilise to get eyes on the action.

Let’s get to it.

Where to Watch UFC

The UFC is the premier MMA organization in the world, boasting the finest roster of fighters, with a 30-year history of putting on the best, most watched MMA fights in the world.

There are several ways you can go about watching the UFC, which are:

• UFC Fight Pass
• You Tube
• UFC PPV
• UFC Fight Night Live

If you’re wanting to watch previous fights, then the best place to go is UFC Fight Pass. This has an entire fight library dating back to the original days of the UFC, as well as fights from other organizations that the UFC has acquired over the years.

What’s more, the UFC often partners up with other organizations to host their events within Fight Pass, this can be BJJ events, or even boxing events such as Gamebred Promotions (Jorge Masvidal’s company).

On top of that, you’ll also get access to other UFC shows, such as Dana White’s Contender series. Essentially, if you want to watch MMA, this is a great place to start, although is a monthly/ annual subscription cost attached.

Typically, before a big live event, the UFC will post free fights to their YouTube channel. These fights will feature fighters that’ll be on the up-and-coming card. Considering the frequency of UFC events these days, there’s usually several free fights on their channel at any given time.

Ok, now it’s time to discuss live events, which is where things get a little bit tricky, as this will depend on where you are in the world. In the UK for example, UFC Fight Nights can be found on BT Sport, where as the PPV events can be found at BT Sport Box Office.

In the US, you will need an ESPN+ subscription to watch both UFC Fight Nights and UFC PPV events. It really comes down to the country you’re located in, and what licensing deals broadcasting networks have with the UFC.

Where to Watch ONE FC

ONE FC owns the lions share of the MMA market in Asia. Their events are unique, in that they’ll put on fights from different disciplines within the same card and are even known to put on truly one-of-a-kind fights such as Mighty Mouse Vs Rotdang, an MMA/ Muay Thai hybrid fight (if you haven’t seen that fight, go and watch it).

As of 2023, they’re starting to branch out into the US, both in terms of live events and broadcasting, having made an exclusive deal with Amazon Prime to stream their events. There are no PPV attachments to watching these events in the US and Canada, as they are included with your Prime membership.

You can also catch their events, for free, on their YouTube channel, something I often find myself doing as I write these articles.

Again, where you can watch ONE FC’s live events will come down to where you’re based around the world, but for most countries, you can catch their events live at watch.onefc.com.

Where to watch PFL

Next up, we’ve got the Professional Fight League (PFL).

The PFL has a very solid roster of fighters, as well an interesting league/season dynamic to their organization. Each fighter is awarded points for a win, and which ever fighter finishes the season with the most points, wins.

What do they win I hear you ask?

A cheeky $1,000,000 prize for their efforts. All in all, this makes for a great watch and is a nice change up in dynamic from some of the other organizations out there.

So, you do you watch the PFL?

Well, if you want to check out the action without opening your wallet, they’ve got a good number of full fights on their YouTube cannel.

If you want to watch the events live as they happen, there are several ways depending on where you live. It’s you’re in the UK, you can get watch the PFL on DAZN. If you’re in the US you can watch it on ESPN+, and you Canadians out there can watch PFL on TSN.

For a full break down on where you can PFL’s MMA events, head on over to this page on their website.

Where to Watch Bellator

Moving onto Bellator MMA, another large MMA promotion based out of the US, that hosts various events around the world. Bellator has been home to some of the largest stars in MMA and hosts amazing cards on a regular basis.

Below are where you can watch Bellator events as they happen:

• US: Showtime
• UK: BBC iPlayer
• Australia: 10 play

For a full break down on where to watch Bellator MMA in various countries, head over to this article.

Where to Watch MMA by Country

Ok, for obvious reasons, I’m not going to be able to list every country in the world and where to watch MMA.

For that reason, I’ll only list the countries where most of our readers are from. If your country isn’t on the list, feel free to reach out in the comment section below.

Where to Watch MMA – Other Sources

YouTube

Firs things first, I’m not going recommend any bootleg websites to watch MMA events. The streaming quality is terrible… oh, and it’s illegal.

In all seriousness, these free streams are disgustingly laggy, often in a language you can’t understand and overall terrible quality.

While perhaps not the most legitimate of ways to watch MMA, there are a ton of YouTube channels out there that are have free fights/ fight highlights you can check out. You can basically search for any fight in history, and there’s a good chance you’ll find it on YouTube.

Live/ In Person

I’m fortunate enough to have been to several MMA events, both professional and amateur, and I have to say, it’s bloody awesome.

The crowd goes wild, the atmosphere is incredible, and you get a much better appreciation for the incredible level of skill these fighter’s display.

With that in mind, if you’re wondering where to watch MMA, then there’s no better way than to be there in person.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully now you’ve got a better idea of where to watch MMA fights.

If there are any other organizations you’re wondering about, or if you’ve got any questions at all, please feel free to get in touch via the comment section below.

Thanks for stopping by.