Some 20-odd years ago, UFC launched The Ultimate Fighter, a reality competition series that was designed to help bolster the promotion's roster of fighters. The series initially aired on Spike TV (Now Paramount Network), and has since moved to Fox/FS1 and ESPN/ESPN+.
Next stop? Back under the Paramount umbrella, as it was reported earlier this week that, days after the WWE was moving their streaming content from Peacock to ESPN's new streaming service in 2026, TKO Holdings, the parent of both UFC & WWE, decided the two could not remain under the same umbrella for streaming.
Penny wise or pound foolish? Who knows?
While UFC's current frontman, Dana White, is giddy about staging a card at the White House next year, though some of his fighters might not be, you have to wonder why TKO made this move to keep UFC & WWE apart, when the potential for crossovers between the two promotions exists.
The answer there may be that White doesn't want that happening at all. Sure, President Pampers (Donald Trump) is a fan of both, and is in the WWE Hall of Fame's Celebrity Wing, but that doesn't mean he couldn't see a crossover event happening. Given how Trump has meddled in so many things he has no control over lately, just because he 1) thinks he can, and 2) he needs to keep attention away from certain scandals hanging over his head, I'd not be surprised if he took a stand on this issue, inevitably.
In a slightly unrelated note, former UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta has expressed interest in acquiring TNA Wrestling, but there are those who believe that will eventually move under the TKO umbrella as well, given the promotion's current working arrangement with WWE's NXT division, and, almost inevitably, crossovers with the main WWE rosters could still be on the agenda.
Anyone for alphabet soup?
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