Boxing has been a staple of the top end of professional sports for decades, but now, the popularity of combat sports spreads far beyond the purest of competition. Mixed martial arts has risen to the fore, thanks in no small part to the efforts of the UFC, forever looking to prove itself on the global stage.
Exploring seemingly every opportunity that comes its way, the UFC has helped to grow itself and other combat sports to new highs year after year. Given the restraints to achieve this, as well as how many others have failed to make the most similar opportunities, the success of combat sports today is very impressive.
Tapping into New Digital Arenas
It’s rather fitting that the UFC began and slowly rose to prominence as the headline combat sport of the time, boxing, was beginning to fade from the spotlight. From there, it grew alongside the rapid adoption of the internet and the many platforms and devices that connected and expanded the digital space.
Now, combat sports are everywhere. Streaming platforms have built themselves on combat sports to now command global user bases in the hundreds of millions. Social media site accessibility is also being leveraged to reach far-flung audiences with ease. From there, partnerships with other growing digital platforms have only furthered the spread of the UFC brand and other combat sports that look to follow.
Already, the UFC has a partnership with an online slot game developer, and at a time when iGaming is growing in the US and cemented overseas. Its success will likely lead to further partnerships, such as with more localized iGaming platforms, like those that offer bingo bonus codes and associated games, like bingo and instant win titles.
Not Just a Global Digital Presence
High-end boxing has enjoyed somewhat of a change to its state of play over the last couple of decades. The emergence of British heavyweight talents has enabled bouts to take place at their massive home stadiums, bouts have gone to the Middle East for big payouts, and a pound-for-pound leader from Japan has hosted fights at home.
It’s a detachment from what was the norm in previous decades, where the only place to have a world title fight was, more or less, the US. The UFC not only decided to buck this combat sports trend, but also the trend of the biggest professional sports within its home country. The UFC regularly takes its show on the road.
It stands in stark contrast to what would now be its peers in the US. Major league sports have long hailed themselves as competing for “world” titles while almost exclusively, until recently, being focused on and set in the US. The UFC defied this status quo. While based in Las Vegas, it brings its headline events and more overseas.
It’s been an uphill challenge to achieve its far-reaching schedule. The UFC has had to lobby for laws to be changed in countless jurisdictions to allow it to stage its events. France is among the most recent of these, but the likes of China, Mexico, and several African countries are all now being worked on as the UFC’s next spots.
Through its embrace of non-traditional and modern digital platforms and a truly global approach to its events, the UFC and the other combat sports that follow have become titans of the industry in 2026.