UFC has just announced a new massive rights deal with Paramount but the promotion's decision to phase out pay-per-views when we enter 2026 has Georges St-Pierre concerned for the future well being of fighters and their financial situation. The rights agreement was announced on Monday with Paramount that netted the MMA leader a whopping $7.7 billion dollars over the course of the seven year deal.
Paramount+ or CBS will now carry numbered events for the UFC but Georges St-Pierre does not seem convinced this idea will be beneficial to the in-cage competitors contracted to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Negotiating a cut of the capital accrued by pay-per-view events used to be a major piece of the negotiating equation for combatants with GSP likely cashing sizable cheques from the PPV points that the massive shows he was featured on would have garnered.
This subject was discussed during an interview with Covers when St-Pierre said,
“It could be good for the UFC, as a promoter, but terrible for the fighters because when I was competing I was able to have a great argument to negotiate on my contract. I could tell the UFC, ‘Hey, if you want me to do all the promotion, I want to become a partner. I want a piece of the pie to negotiate a part of the pay-per-view revenue."
"Because if I’m doing all the promotion, I’m helping you, but you need to help me. You need to make me a partner.’ So it might be a bad thing for the fighters in a way that they have less leverage. “That’s what I think. I think it’s going to take off some leverage for the big names to have an argument to negotiate more money.”
UFC PPV points and Georges St-Pierre's legacy as a star
While the UFC PPV points were not historically widely available to the public as far as specific amounts fighters would receive, it provided a lane for standout athletes to at least earn a bit more in a spot that is notorious for having such low revenue share among the athletes. GSP's last outing took place in November 2017 when he finished Michael Bisping to become the UFC middleweight champion at UFC 217 and has been in some of the biggest blockbuster bouts in the history of mixed martial arts.
Georges St-Pierre's involvement with UFC 100 made it an all time iconic show for the company with Brock Lesnar engaging in a rematch with Frank Mir in the headliner but GSP also did huge nights of business with Nick Diaz at UFC 158, BJ Penn in a rematch at UFC 94, Jake Shields at UFC 129, and a sequel clash with Josh Koscheck at UFC 124 to name but a few.
