After all the celebration about the death of pay-per-view, UFC CEO & President Dana White is telling everyone to hold their horses.
In an interview with the New York Post, despite the proclamations made in the new $7.7 billion deal with Paramount about the future of numbered UFC events, White says that he isn't eliminating the pay-per-view concept entirely in this mind.
White suggest he may toy with the idea of a potential 14th numbered UFC pay-per-view event during the Paramount deal that could see be put behind a pay-per-view paywall.
"Anything is possible," White said. "And you could do a one-off pay-per-view. I am going to be on pay-per-view this Saturday. Pay-Per-View is not dead."
This comes not even 24 hours after TKO executives Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro gave an interview to CNBC for the deal's announcement, during which Shapiro referred to the pay-per-view model as "a thing of the past" and "an outdated, antiquated model."
Dana White Hints PPV Format May Still Appear In New UFC-Paramount Deal
The UFC and Paramount's new deal, which is set to begin in January, calls for 43 total UFC events per year -- with 30 Fight Night cards and 13 numbered events.
These numbered events, however, would not be pay-per-view as they have since the UFC's inception in 1993. Instead, these cards, along with the UFC Fight Nights, would air exclusively on the Paramount+ streaming service.
The initial announcements also noted that a select number of events would air on the linear CBS network in the United States.
How many cards air on CBS has also been a point of discrepancy amongst the TKO and UFC executives. Despite the press release mentioning "select" events, Emanuel and Shapiro hinted at the possibility all of the UFC numbered cards are simulcast between Paramount+ and CBS, citing a desire for the most eyeballs possible.
A later CBS Sports interview with White saw him state four "big" events would air on the network.