3 MMA streaming services to subscribe to (and fights to binge on each)

With a major lull in sports, let alone MMA, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, make sure to subscribe to these three platforms for content if you haven’t already done so.

It’s been said plenty of times before, but it’s worth saying each time: we’re in an unprecedented period in sports, MMA or not.

It was just last week when the NBA suspended its season, setting off a domino effect in which league after league paused or canceled play thanks to the coronavirus outbreak. And the MMA world is no exception. Bellator 241 was canceled on mere hours’ notice on March 13. And while the UFC tried to keep things going with a closed-door UFC Brasilia card, it ultimately scrapped the planned UFC London, UFC Columbus and UFC Portland events — with UFC 249 also nearing the same grim fate. There are a couple of promotions, such as ONE Championship, still trying to produce events in empty arenas.

For most of the world, however, there will be a severe lack of MMA event content, and we don’t necessarily know how long this is going to last. So, if you haven’t already, now’s a good time to take advantage of free trials or fork over some dollars and subscribe to these streaming platforms. This way, you can have a lot of classic MMA content to binge and series to check out.

Here are three MMA streaming platforms you need to check out (and three fights from each to enjoy)

ESPN+

This is perhaps the most obvious platform to subscribe to. It’s technically more than just MMA, but ESPN and its ESPN+ platform is the home to both the UFC and the PFL. ESPN+ is the exclusive place to purchase UFC pay-per-view events and watch most of the UFC Fight Night cards, and the latter is available to watch in the archive almost immediately afterward. In addition, ESPN+ has a variety of UFC programming: Dana White’s Contender Series, UFC Reloaded (for classic UFC pay-per-view events), UFC Unleashed, UFC Main Event and UFC Fight Flashback (all for classic UFC fights), UFC Destined (behind-the-scenes looks of main events and title fights), UFC Unlocking Victory with Dominick Cruz, UFC Detailed with Daniel Cormier and so much.

Plus, there’s every PFL event of season two, PFL pre-shows and post-shows, the international qualifier tournaments thus far from this year, road to the championship shows, recap shows, countdown shows and more.

Sign up for ESPN+ now. 

Recommended Fights:

• Robbie Lawler vs. Rory MacDonald 2: UFC 189: July 11, 2015: Lawler’s first welterweight title defense came in a rematch with MacDonald. The bloody war ended up being one of the greatest title fights in UFC history.
• Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. Dan Henderson 1: UFC 139: Nov. 19, 2011: One week after its originally planned main event, Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos for the heavyweight title, headlined the first UFC on Fox event, UFC 139 gifted its audience with 2011’s Fight of the Year and one of the greatest fights in UFC history.
• Michael Johnson vs. Justin Gaethje: The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale: July 7, 2017: It’s been a while since we’ve seen Justin Gaethje in action, but he showed how much of an explosive and entertaining talent he can be right from his UFC start here.

UFC Fight Pass

UFC Fight Pass, for those who don’t know, is the UFC’s own subscription-based video streaming platform containing the UFC’s video library of classic fights and events. You might ask yourself, “If I have ESPN+, why should I have UFC Fight Pass?” Firstly, ESPN+ might not have every single classic event and such, if you’re a hardcore who wants to try to watch as much vintage UFC as possible — especially the olden, dark-era days.

But when Dana White claims UFC Fight Pass is more than just MMA, let alone UFC, he’s right. In addition to the UFC, there are classic events from all of the promotion’s purchased past rivals and subsidiaries, including PRIDE, Strikeforce and the WEC. In addition, UFC Fight Pass is the home to the Invicta FC, Legacy Fighting Alliance (LFA), Cage Warriors, the Cage Fury Fighting Championship (CFFC) and Titan FC. And outside of MMA, UFC Fight Pass is the home to GLORY Kickboxing, Roy Jones Jr Promotions (boxing), QUINTET (grappling), the Eddie Bravo Invitational (grappling) and Polaris (grappling).

Recommended fights:

• Fedor Emelianenko vs. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic: PRIDE Final Conflict 2005: Aug. 28, 2005: Emelianenko and Filipovic clash over the PRIDE heavyweight title in the 2005 Fight of the Year — and the Fight of the Decade for the 2000s.
• Fedor Emelianenko vs. Fabricio Werdum: Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum: June 26, 2010: In one of MMA’s biggest upsets, Fabricio Werdum — not long since being cut by the UFC — becomes the first man in about a decade to defeat Emelianenko
• Daniel Cormier vs. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva: Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov: Sept. 10, 2011: Cormier came into this Heavyweight Grand Prix bout on short notice. This upset would mark the start of his legacy as he went on to win the tournament and Strikeforce heavyweight title.

DAZN

DAZN is technically more than just MMA, but combat sports (both MMA and boxing) seem to be its most-viewed content. In fact, it may be safe to say DAZN has changed the game in the consumption of combat sports content — an alternative to the traditional pay-per-view method.

In June 2018, DAZN signed a deal with Bellator MMA, giving DAZN the rights to broadcast all of the cards that air on traditional cable via Paramount Network, as well as several of its own exclusive cards per year. The first of these was Bellator 206, which featured a champion vs. champion showdown between Gegard Mousasi and Rory MacDonald, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva 4 and the start of the Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix. Every DAZN-exclusive Bellator card feels bigger in hype and star power, essentially making it a substitute for the UFC’s pay-per-view model.

DAZN also broadcasts the likes of KSW, Fight Nights Global, Road FC and EFC. Outside of MMA, DAZN is also the home to stars of boxing such as Anthony Joshua, Canelo Alvarez and Gennadiy Golovkin.

Recommended fights:

• Fedor Emelianenko vs. Ryan Bader: Bellator 214: Jan. 26, 2019: The MMA legend Emelianenko and Bellator light heavyweight champion Bader met in the finals of the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix – which determined Bellator’s first heavyweight champion in nearly three years. Either Emelianenko would have his first title since PRIDE, or Bader would become Bellator’s first champ-champ It took just over 30 seconds and one punch for history to be made.
• Aaron Pico vs. Henry Corrales: Bellator 214: Jan. 26, 2019: That same Emelianenko vs. Bader card also featured a battle of top featherweight prospects in Pico and Corrales. This fight didn’t last much longer, and the loser ended up going on a downturn that he hasn’t recovered from. But for the time this fight did last, both men put on an entertaining show.
• Andrey Koreshkov vs. Lorenz Larkin: Bellator 229: Oct. 4, 2019: A fun, close, back-and-forth encounter between two of Bellator’s welterweight contenders — the former champion Koreshkov and UFC veteran Larkin