Episode 676: New year, new UFC?

The Co-Main Event MMA Podcast

Chad Dundas

Leisure, Sports

4.8 • 707 Ratings

🗓️ 6 January 2026

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Sup, 2026. You gonna suck as bad as 2025 did? Not to start things on a pessimistic note, but if we had to guess … you know what, never mind. As it pertains to this show, 2026 means a lot of things — perhaps most importantly that the UFC has officially disembarked from ESPN+ into the unknown waters of Paramount+. The first Premium Live Event is just a couple of weeks away, and we all still have a lot of questions. So, on the first show of the new year, we try to answer as many of them as we can. Plus, Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier try to monetize these amazing brands they’ve built by going on a Russian reality show; somehow Jake Paul is still talking shit through a busted jaw; and Paddy Pimblett got tapped out in a grappling tournament just a couple of weeks before he’s supposed to fight for the UFC interim lightweight title. Sooo … is all publicity really good publicity? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hear that? It's your big McDonald's hunger calling. Because the Big Arch is back. And this time it's here to stay with juicy beef, cheddar cheese and that Big Arch sauce. Hungry? You are now. Order delivery on the McDonald's app. Serve from 11am. Upcharges and fees apply to delivery orders. Subjects availability, price and participation may vary.
0:30.2	You're listening to the Co-Main-Event podcast.
0:34.3	And now your hosts, Ben Fulks and Chad Dundas.
0:39.1	That's right.
0:44.4	You're listening to another episode of the co-main event mixed martial arts podcast.
0:46.3	I'm Chad Dundas.
0:47.5	That's been folks.
0:52.7	We're both longtime MMA journalists and for nearly the last 14 years.
0:58.6	We've been meeting here every week to break down all the action in the wild, weird,
1:02.5	and occasionally wonderful world of mixed martial arts.
1:05.3	It's been a couple weeks since we talked to you. And if you are listening to the sound of my voice right now,
1:09.1	it means you survived 2025.
1:13.1	Yay!
1:14.0	And that means, among other indignities, we all survived another UFC media rights deal.
1:23.5	It's the first CME of 2026 and the UFC has officially moved on from ESPN Plus and moved on to Paramount Plus for the next seven years.
1:36.6	A sentence that would have sounded like complete bullshit if I had said it even at the beginning of 2025.
1:43.6	And so we are going to open this new year talking about that because frankly ain't any other
1:49.9	shit going on.
1:52.0	Here's the first show of the year.
1:53.5	And instead of talking about actual fights, we are once again talking about where the fights live.
2:00.0	Ben, new year, New You, FC?
2:05.4	I see what you did. See what I did there? Yeah, I appreciate it. Well, I mean,
	...

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