Amazon Gets In The Ultimate Fighting Game With UFC Pay-Per-View Events on Prime

By Todd Spangler, Variety
Published Feb. 28, 2018, 4:07 p.m. ET

Amazon keeps looking more like a cable TV operator.

The latest addition to its programming grid: Amazon Prime Video is offering UFC’s mixed martial arts pay-per-view events to customers in the U.S., beginning March 3 with UFC 222, headlined by Cris Cyborg vs. Yana Kunitskaya.

UFC’s PPV events are available for purchase on Prime Video on an event-by-event basis, with no Prime membership required. Beginning today, customers can pre-order UFC 222 for $64.99 from Amazon.com. Amazon’s deal with UFC, which is owned by Endeavor (formerly WME-IMG), covers all PPV events from the MMA organization going forward.

The main card matchups scheduled for UFC 222, which starts at 10 p.m. ET on March 3, are: Cris Cyborg vs. Yana Kunitskaya, Frankie Edgar vs. Brian Ortega, Sean O’Malley vs. Andre Soukhamthath, Stefan Struve vs. Andrei Arlovski, and Cat Zingano vs. Ketlen Vieira.

For Amazon, the UFC pact continues its steady march to offer more live programming — and sports in particular — on its video service.

Amazon nabbed the NFL’s “Thursday Night Football” live-streaming global rights for the 2017 season, and it’s in the mix again in talks with the league for the next go-round.

Through Amazon Channels, Prime members can watch sports content by subscribing to services such as SI TV and CBS All Access in the U.S. and Discovery’s Eurosport Player in the U.K. and Germany. This year, Prime Video will also deliver live and on-demand coverage of the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour and the Next Gen ATP Finals to subscribers in more than 200 countries and territories.

Other sports content is coming to Amazon: In June, Prime members in the U.K. and Ireland will be able to watch live and on-demand content covering the ATP’s Queen’s Club Championships and Eastbourne International on Prime Video, as part of an ATP partnership that will feature 37 ATP World Tour events annually beginning in 2019.

In addition, Amazon also has stocked Prime Video with several sports-related docu-series. Those include “Le Mans: Racing is Everything,” “Grand Prix Driver” and and two seasons of the behind-the-scenes NFL show “All or Nothing.” Original series featuring the New Zealand All Blacks, Manchester City F.C. and the University of Michigan football team also are slated to hit Prime Video later this year.