UFC Revenue Jumps 60% as TKO Raises Its Full-Year Forecast
UFC revenue rose 60% in the third quarter, to $519.2 million, according to TKO's third-quarter results, released on 4 November 2026. TKO Group Holdings, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker TKO, owns UFC, WWE and PBR, and it also runs Zuffa Boxing, a professional boxing promotion it operates as a joint venture.
Across the whole company, revenue reached $1.36 billion for the quarter, up 21% on the same period a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA, a company profit measure that strips out interest, tax and certain other items, came in at $555.7 million, up 54%. For every dollar of revenue, 41 cents turned into adjusted EBITDA, up from 32 cents a year ago.
Most of the UFC growth came from media rights, production and content, which rose by $132.3 million. Live events and hospitality added $36 million, partnerships and marketing added $20.5 million, and consumer products licensing and other income added $5.2 million. Together, those lines account for most of the year-on-year increase.
WWE was the softer side of the quarter. It staged three fewer main-roster events, meaning its headline live shows, than in the same quarter of 2025. Even so, WWE added $9.4 million to TKO's adjusted EBITDA, while UFC contributed a $119.7 million increase.
TKO also raised its forecast for the full year. It now expects revenue of $5.790 billion to $5.830 billion, and adjusted EBITDA of $2.295 billion to $2.315 billion. A forecast is the company's own estimate of what it will earn over the year, and it can change.
The quarter follows a strong first half. TKO reported first-quarter revenue of $1.597 billion, up 26%, with UFC bringing in $401.2 million. In the second quarter, revenue was $1.547 billion, up 18%, and UFC reached $535.7 million, according to TKO's second-quarter release.
A large part of UFC's money now comes from its broadcast deal. In August 2025, Reuters reported that Paramount had won exclusive US rights to UFC in a $7.7 billion deal, worth an average of $1.1 billion a year to TKO. The agreement moved the company away from UFC's traditional pay-per-view model, where fans pay for each event. Paramount has also agreed to stream the main cards of UFC's numbered events in Canada on Paramount+ from 2027, Reuters reported in June 2026.
For now, the numbers point in one direction. UFC's income is climbing fastest in the areas that come from long-term media money, while WWE's live-event count dipped. TKO's next update will show whether the raised forecast holds through the final quarter of the year.
