5/9/25: UFC Sees 15 Percent Revenue Increase In Q1 2025
Also: PFL Europe cancels upcoming France event
Welcome to a Friday edition of the Knockdown Daily. I have a few quick stories for you as we head into the weekend, plus tons of fight booking stories in the notes section. A whole lot of news to cover, so let’s begin.
UFC Records 15 Percent Revenue Increase In First Quarter of 2025
UFC has started the year off strong, financially speaking.
UFC generated $359 million in revenue ($227 million adjusted EBITDA) during the first quarter of 2025, up 15 percent compared to the promotion’s first three months of 2024.
Details regarding the company’s financials were revealed this week as part of a quarterly report issued by UFC’s parent company, TKO Group Holdings.
A noticeable jump in the revenue came from the promotion’s live events sector, which generated $58 million in the first three months of the year.
The company credited a fair amount of this increase to their February event in Saudi Arabia, which earned them a sizeable site fee payment. While a specific figure wasn’t mentioned for the “Fight Night” card headlined by Israel Adesanya and Nassourdine Imavov, some within the company have previously said that payouts as high as eight figures have been given out for trips to the region.
It was also noted that UFC’s success with ticket sales, attracting larger audiences despite upping the prices to attend live events, was another reason behind the increase.
The “Partnerships and marketing” part of the leading MMA brand’s business model also saw an increase, with $64 million in revenue brought in during the first quarter. UFC has struck various new partnerships in recent months, including a renewal with Monster Energy that they touted was “the largest sponsorship deal in company history.”
“Consumer products, licensing and other,” the smallest part of UFC’s business, was the only sector that was down, dropping to $12 million, roughly $2 million less than what was earned at the start of 2024.
The topic that will loom over all discussions surrounding UFC’s business this year is the promotion’s pending 2026 media rights deal, which they have been negotiating in the open market since mid-April.
It remains hard to gauge whether the promotion will stick with ESPN, which has been the exclusive home for all live programming since 2019, or if other players, including Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, and other streamers, could factor into a deal as well.
TKO President Mark Shapiro hasn’t taken any options off the table just yet, as highlighted by comments he made during the quarterly earnings call this week.
“We’re in discussions at this time with various third parties regarding the UFC’s [broadcasting] rights,” he said. “I would term the conversations as thoughtful and strategic. Nothing to announce at this time, and ESPN is still heavily included in the mix. I think we’ve been pretty vocal about how great of a partner they’ve been and how instrumental they’ve been to our growth and success.”
The media rights sector drives more than half of UFC’s revenue, precisely bringing in $224 million in the first quarter of 2025. Because of this, the future of the promotion’s broadcasting agreements will play a significant role in how their quarterly reports will begin to look a year from now.
TKO, which owns the UFC along with WWE, IMG talent agency, production company On Location, and Professional Bull Riders, saw an overall revenue of $1.269 billion, up 4 percent from the first quarter of 2024. Revenue gains from UFC ($46 million) and WWE ($74 million) were somewhat offset by a loss of $73 million on the IMG side of the business, as noted Thursday.
PFL Europe Cancels May 23rd Paris Card, Leaving Bantamweight Tournament In Limbo
PFL won’t be returning to France later this month.
A card at the Accor Arena in Paris, which featured the opening round in an eight-man bantamweight tournament, numerous notable local talents, and the MMA debut of French football star Patrice Evra, has all been delayed, per an announcement made by the promotion this week.
“PFL Europe Paris on 23 May has been rescheduled, and a new date will be announced soon,” PFL wrote on social media this week. “All fans who have purchased tickets will receive a full refund.”
It’s currently unclear when a rescheduled date for the show will take place, and how many of the 11 bouts booked for the card will be salvaged and re-booked.
The cancellation puts a pause on PFL Europe’s year-long tournament, a central part of the promotion’s tours throughout the region since 2023.
PFL Europe was scheduled to host a pair of tournaments this year, with the opening rounds beginning this month. On Saturday, an eight-man lightweight bracket will begin at the SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
It was expected that four fights as part of a bantamweight tournament would kick off later this month in Paris. Now, it’s unknown when the 135-pound tournament will begin.
Along with the event’s cancellation, it was also announced Thursday that PFL Europe will head to Brussels, Belgium, for the first time on July 5th, hosting a card at the ING Arena.
France has previously been a relatively strong market for PFL’s Europe tour. This is mainly due to the star power of welterweight fighter Cedric Doumbe, who has headlined a pair of the promotion’s past visits to the country and even attracted some A-list celebrities to their events.
However, with Doumbe not booked for the May 23rd show, PFL had to try and attract a large crowd to the 16,000-capacity Accor Arena using other names. It’s unclear whether ticket issues contributed to the event being cancelled.
Report: PFL Fighter Mansour Barnaoui Accused of Rape, Domestic Violence By Ex-Girlfriend
Content Warning: This story includes descriptions of domestic violence and rape.
Mansour Barnaoui, one of the most prominent French fighters who currently competes on the PFL roster, is facing disturbing allegations of raping and abusing his ex-girlfriend over the course of a multi-year relationship.
A former partner of Barnaoui, who filed a formal complaint against him in the Hauts-de-Seine region of France in late 2023, recently opened up about disturbing allegations against the fighter during an interview with Le Parisien.
The woman, who will not be named in this story for privacy reasons, says she met Barnaoui in 2020 and started dating the fighter a year later.
She recalls Barnaoui first started turning violent towards her during a trip to Las Vegas in May 2022, an excursion which would allow him to train abroad and attempt to garner attention with a new promotion.
The ex-girlfriend alleges that one night in Vegas, Barnaoui was especially frustrated, and he took it out on her. She recalls being raped, hit, and strangled, causing her to go unconscious at points. She said her friend recorded moments of the altercation to alert others back home.
The ex-girlfriend claimed that Barnaoui continued to be violent towards her until September 2023, when she filed a complaint against him and they split up. Le Parisien wrote earlier this week that Barnaoui remains under investigation.
A lawyer for Barnaoui claimed that the allegations against him were false and that the ex-girlfriend had been attempting to extort him.
The accuser had been campaigning in recent weeks for Barnaoui to be removed from PFL Europe’s May 24th card at the Accor Arena in Paris, where he was scheduled to headline the show against Archie Colgan. It was announced this week that the event was cancelled, with no reason given as to why.
PFL declined to comment when Le Parisien contacted them.
Notes On: UFC, ONE Championship, RIZIN, CFFC
UFC
Johnny Walker (21-9) has reportedly withdrawn from his UFC 316 fight against Azamat Murzakanov (14-0), per Leo Guimaraes. The reporter said that Walker was pulled from the matchup due to the UFC angling to possibly book him in a main event bout later this year. In his next appearance, Walker will be trying to come back after a pair of finish losses from last year. Replacing him will be Brendson Ribeiro (17-7), per Guimaraes. While Ribeiro started his UFC run with a pair of losses, he has bounced back with two wins since November, most recently submitting Diyar Nugozhay in the second round via kimura. Undefeated Murzakanov has four UFC wins, with three emerging via finish.
Two more fights have been added to UFC’s June 14th card in Atlanta:
Former bantamweight champ Cody Garbrandt (14-6) will make his return against Raoni Barcelos (19-5), per MMA Junkie. Garbrandt hasn’t been seen since his April 2024 loss to Deiveson Figueiredo, which ended his first multi-fight winning streak since 2016. Barcelos has picked up a pair of wins since early 2024, most recently handing highly regarded prospect Payton Talbott his first pro loss at UFC 311.
Riding the momentum of an upset win from earlier this year, Ricky Simon (21-6) will face Charles Jourdain (16-8-1), Marcel Dorff reported this week. Simon likely protected his UFC job by breaking a three-fight skid in February, outperforming his underdog odds and scoring a first-round finish against Javid Basharat. Jourdain is also coming off an important win, breaking a two-fight losing streak with a submission against Victor Henry back in November.
Overall, UFC Atlanta is looking like a really solid card so far.
Sweden’s Jack Hermansson (24-8) will fight for the first time in over a year when he meets Gregory Rodrigues (16-6) at UFC 317 on June 28th, AgFight confirmed this week. Hermansson’s last fight dates back to early February, when he stopped the momentum of “Dana White’s Contender Series” stand-out Joe Pyfer with a decision win. Rodrigues is trying to rebuild himself after having a three-fight winning streak stopped earlier this year, losing his first-ever UFC main event appearance against Jared Cannonier.
Calvin Kattar (23-9) will attempt to snap a four-fight losing streak when he makes his 15th UFC appearance and meets Steve Garcia (17-5) on July 12th, per Nolan King of MMA Junkie. Kattar hasn’t won since 2022, although it’s worth highlighting the quality of opponents he has faced: Aljamain Sterling, Josh Emmett, and Youssef Zalal have all faced Kattar in recent years. Garcia, who has won five straight fights via finish since 2022, hopes to be the latest name to get a win over the veteran fighter. Garcia earned performance bonuses for both of his first-round wins last year.
Some new fights have started to be added to UFC 318 on July 19th:
A fight between ranked middleweights Marvin Vettori (19-7-1) and Brendan Allen (24-7) is back on the schedule, Alex Behunin of MMA Mania recently reported. Vettori and Allen were initially set to meet last year, although the fight ended up not happening due to the Italian fighter suffering an injury. Vettori ended a nearly two-year absence from the cage in March when he lost a five-round fight against Roman Dolidze. Allen has been sliding down the standings at 185 pounds following pivotal losses to Nassourdine Imavov and Anthony Hernandez over the past year.
Islam Dulatov (11-1) will make his UFC debut against Adam Fugitt (10-4), Behunin also confirmed. Ex-OKTAGON talent Dulatov earned a UFC contract in October by scoring a first-round stoppage win over ex-LFA champ Vanilto Antunes on “Dana White’s Contender Series.” Fugitt has gone two-for-four in the UFC, most recently defeating Josh Quinlan last summer. Dulatov and Fugitt were previously scheduled to meet in February, although that iteration of the fight fell through.
It looks like UFC is planning a card for August 2nd, as AgFight has reported two bouts for that date this week. No details regarding the event or its location have been announced thus far.
Andre Lima (11-0) will try to continue his rise up the flyweight ranks when he takes on Felipe Bunes (14-7). Lima has been an active fighter since joining the UFC, scoring four wins in his rookie year with the promotion. After a submission win over Daniel Barez, he returns against Bunes, a former LFA champ who earned his first UFC win when he armbarred Jose Johnson in just over two minutes earlier this year.
Ketlen Souza (15-5) has the chance to get back into the win column when she faces Piera Rodriguez (10-2). Souza had a two-fight winning streak snapped in February when veteran talent Angela Hill beat her via split decision. Rodriguez handed kickboxer Josefine Knutsson her first MMA loss in December, a win which ended a two-fight losing streak.
ONE Championship
20-year-old Turkish prospect Dzhabir Dzhabrailov (5-0) will get his first-ever prime-time ONE booking when he faces Nicolas Vigna (7-1) at the promotion’s June 6th show. Dzhabrailov has earned a pair of sub-minute wins since entering ONE last fall, with his last victory including a slam in the ending sequence. He’ll try to continue his impressive run against Argentina’s Vigna, who suffered his first pro loss when he faced grappling star Kade Ruotolo earlier this year.
RIZIN
Alexander Soldatkin (14-4) will begin his RIZIN Heavyweight Grand Prix run against Prince Aounallah (20-12) at the promotion’s June 14th show in Sapporo. Soldatkin was originally booked to have his quarter-final bout in the Tokyo Dome last week, but had that matchup cancelled after opponent Islambek Baktybek Uulu withdrew. France’s Aounallah has fought as a pro since 2012. Most recently he has dominated the heavyweight division in Hexagone, having defended their belt three times since 2023. He’ll try to be a last-minute success story in the tournament by first beating Soldatkin, who earned his last win in just 19 seconds.
Eight fights were added to the June 14th Sapporo show on Thursday, including the return of Viktor Kolesnik (26-4-1). Here’s the updated card.
One more RIZIN note for now: Super atomweight champ Seika Izawa (15-0) announced at Sunday’s Tokyo Dome card that she’s expecting to return this summer. While she has been a dominant force in RIZIN, it’s been quite some time since she was handed a compelling matchup: Her last appearance, on New Year’s Eve, saw her face 2-3 pro Lucia Apdelgarim, whom she submitted in just half a round.
CFFC
A couple of weeks ago, we noted in a profile piece that Bilal Hasan (6-0) will defend his CFFC flyweight title against Jason Eastman (8-4) on June 6th. The promotion has also since confirmed that middleweight champ Kyle Daukaus (15-4) will face off against Chris Brown (11-5) earlier that evening. Daukaus has been impressive since exiting the UFC roster in late 2022, having picked up three CFFC title wins. Last year, he stopped back-to-back prospects to defend his title twice. After campaigning for a contract with the GFL earlier this year, Daukaus is back to CFFC and hoping to keep his success going. Brown, a veteran of the regional scene who has fought in the PFL and previously won the LFA welterweight title, is coming off a decision win over 5-0 prospect Egor Kosyuchenko from March. You can see all 8 fights for the card thus far here.