With the end of 2025 approaching, the Ultimate Fighting Championship is preparing for a major change in its broadcast home. Beginning in January 2026, the promotion’s new seven-year, 7.7-billion-dollar deal with Paramount will officially start, marking the end of its successful ESPN partnership that began in 2019.
During a recent media session after the Contender Series finale, UFC president Dana White revealed that early matchmaking meetings have already started for the first Paramount event.
“Literally today,” White told reporters. “Matchmaking was today, and we started working on the first Paramount card today.”
Ilia Topuria considered for the debut main event
Among the possible names being discussed to headline this historic card is lightweight champion Ilia Topuria. Fan speculation has been high as to who will be chosen to launch the Paramount era, and Topuria’s rising popularity makes him a natural candidate.
“It’s a possibility,” White said when asked about “El Matador.”
Although nothing is confirmed, many expect the UFC to start this new broadcast chapter with a major title fight or star-driven matchup. Topuria, one of the organization’s brightest talents, could be the face that kicks off the Paramount partnership in early 2026.
🚨 Dana White says it’s possible Ilia Topuria fights on the first UFC Paramount card in January 👀 pic.twitter.com/i5zj9NAX8M
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) October 15, 2025
Merab Dvalishvili to close out the ESPN era
Before the Paramount era begins, the UFC still has one final pay-per-view planned for ESPN. White confirmed that bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili will defend his title against former champion Petr Yan in the main event of UFC 323, which will be the promotion’s last event on ESPN.
“We’re always going to try to put on the best cards that we can,” White said. “We’ve had a great relationship with ESPN, and we were talking earlier, everybody is already starting to feel it. There’s a lot of relationships between the ESPN team that comes to all the fights and works and the UFC team, and everybody is starting to feel it coming to the end here. They’ve been great to us, and they’ve been great to the sport. We want to put on a badass last card for them.”
The Paramount partnership marks a major transition for the UFC. It offers new opportunities for global promotion, production innovation, and exposure to wider audiences. According to White, the first half of 2026 will focus on establishing the Paramount relationship and delivering an opening card worthy of the brand’s scale.
Fans can expect official fight announcements by early February, when the matchmaking team finalizes bouts for the launch event. Whether Ilia Topuria headlines or not, the first Paramount card is expected to symbolize a new era for the organization and its fans worldwide.
