In the weeks before the UFC’s five-year deal with ESPN kicked off, those who run the venerable sports network got an inkling that maybe their new partner is just a little bit different than the majority of the sports entities they’ve broadcast over the past 40 years.
On six days’ notice, the UFC moved its big year-end show, UFC 232, from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to the Forum in Inglewood, Calif., due to potential licensure issues regarding headliner Jon Jones.
ESPN has aired most of the North American sports menu, from the NFL to the NBA to MLB to the NHL to major college football and basketball at various points over the years, but this was something new.