Dana White says he wants $10 billion for the UFC after its Paramount deal ends

UFC CEO Dana White says he wants $10 billion for the promotion's next US media rights deal, once its contract with Paramount ends. He said it on The Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett, in an episode released on Monday, October 5.

"Because guess what I want? I want $10 billion after we get out of this deal."

This is a target White set out in an interview, not an offer or a negotiation. The Paramount deal runs through 2032, according to Fight Sports, and no talks on the next one have been reported. We found no comment from TKO or Paramount.

Paramount and TKO announced the current deal on August 11, 2025. It runs seven years from 2026 at an average of $1.1 billion a year, about $7.7 billion in total. All 13 numbered events and 30 Fight Nights a year stream on Paramount+, some numbered cards also air on CBS, and US pay-per-view is gone.

What White said

White tied the number to what the UFC does for Paramount. He said Paramount paid $7.7 billion "because they believed that we can impact their business." His job now, he said, is "to make sure we do that."

If the next deal also ran seven years, $10 billion would work out to about $1.43 billion a year. That's roughly 30% above the current deal's $1.1 billion yearly average. The arithmetic is ours: White didn't give a length or a yearly figure.

The payments are weighted toward the later years of the deal, NBC News reported when it was signed. Paramount CEO David Ellison called the UFC "a unicorn asset that comes up about once a decade" at the time.

White also claimed that after the deal was announced, NFL executives "got in a room" to talk about the "$8 billion" they had missed. He opened that story with "I don't know this for a fact, but I know this for a fact," and offered no evidence. He told a similar version in June, according to EssentiallySports.

The pay fight in the background

White didn't talk about fighter pay in the episode. But it landed in the middle of a public pay dispute with his middleweight champion.

Sean Strickland (31-7) won back the title from Khamzat Chimaev by split decision on May 9. He closed as a +375 underdog that night, per our fighter page. He has since said he may vacate and move up to light heavyweight to finish his contract. Then he'd chase a boxing match with Jake Paul, The National reported on October 9.

"McGregor makes 30 million to fight for 30 second and they don't want to pay us a fraction of it."

White answered at a Contender Series press conference, Sherdog reported on October 14. "He got a whole new deal in May. So, it is what it is," he said. He called the figure Strickland had claimed "not true" but didn't give one of his own.

Strickland's title defence against Nassourdine Imavov, expected to close out 2026, was postponed over the dispute, ClutchPoints reported. He beat Imavov by decision in January 2023.

Strickland has said he "will not fight or sign any contract" until his pay is sorted out. Uncrowned reported on October 10 that Charles Oliveira vs Diego Lopes will headline UFC 335 on December 12 instead, with the rematch possible in early 2027. White gave no timeline.