UFC 324 Draws 4.96 Million Views in Paramount+ Debut

Jung Han -

Becomes Largest Exclusive Live Event in Paramount+ History

The UFC kicked off their Paramount+ partnership with an impressive viewership turnout for Saturday night's event.

UFC 324, held at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on January 24, pulled a live average minute audience of 4.96 million views during the main card, with 5.93 million peak concurrent streams. According to Adobe Analytics and Paramount channel partner data, this makes it the largest exclusive live event on Paramount+ to date. Globally, the event was viewed by 7.18 million households.

Key Fight Results

The main event featured Paddy Pimblett taking on Justin Gaethje for the interim UFC lightweight championship. Gaethje emerged victorious with a unanimous decision, claiming the interim title. He is now in line to face reigning UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria sometime later in 2026.

Elsewhere on the card, Sean "Suga" O'Malley defeated Song "Kung Fu Kid" Yadong by unanimous decision, while Natalia Silva beat Rose Namajunas by unanimous decision. Jean Silva of Brazil also faced Arnold Allen of England in a featherweight bout.

$7.7 Billion Exclusive Deal

The UFC struck their exclusive deal with Paramount last summer in a deal valued at $7.7 billion. Fans in the U.S. and Latin America can now watch all major UFC events without paying an additional pay-per-view charge. Paramount also secured all UFC numbered events, 30 UFC Fight Nights per year, Dana White's Contender Series, and reality show "The Ultimate Fighter" among other content.

The next event, UFC 325: Volkanovski vs. Lopes II, will originate from Sydney, Australia on January 31.

[Analysis] UFC 324's successful debut demonstrates the accelerating shift of sports content toward streaming platforms. The fact that UFC secured nearly 5 million viewers despite transitioning from its traditional pay-per-view model to subscription-based streaming sends a positive signal for Paramount+'s sports strategy. Following Netflix's exclusive streaming deal with WWE Raw, Paramount+ is now differentiating itself with combat sports content, intensifying competition among streaming platforms for premium sports programming.