A surprising idea has been floated this week that the streaming issues on ESPN+ during the main card broadcast of UFC 313 were all a part of a negotiating tactic by ESPN.
This past weekend, the UFC was back on pay-per-view with a massive card featuring several elite stars. In the co-main event, Justin Gaethje made his return after a year away and scored a hard-fought victory over Rafael Fiziev. In the headliner, Alex Pereira suffered his first loss at light heavyweight when Magomed Anakalaev won a razor-thin unanimous decision to become the division’s new champion.
However, to the chagrin of many fight fans, a weird glitch on ESPN+ charged them for the event, but the biggest fights at UFC 313 were unviewable. It was a situation that went viral on social media. And likely cost the promotion a boatload of money due to refunds to angry fans.
Yet, former UFC heavyweight and popular podcaster Brendan Shaub does not believe ESPN+ all of a sudden had random issues with the stream. He believes the glitch was all part of a tactic to send a message to the MMA world leader during media rights negotiations.
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Streaming glitch during UFC 313 done on purpose to cost UFC money?
“The whole ESPN+ PPV not working; they’re in negotiations right now,” Schaub said in a new post on his Thicc Boy YouTube channel. “If you think that wasn’t on purpose, you’re out of your mind. ESPN doesn’t give a flying f*** about UFC, really. They’re in turmoil… I’ve never had [previous streaming] issues.
“All of a sudden, issues just pop up during negotiation rights? That is somebody going, ‘Oh really, you want to play hardball? This is what your numbers will look like without us.’ That’s what I think with a tinfoil hat on,” he added. “I’ve never had issues, and all of a sudden, half the f**ing world has issues? That’s weird.”
Obviously, Schaub’s opinion must be taken with a huge grain of salt. But the UFC is currently in media rights negotiations with different platforms and looking for billions in their next deal. Recent rumors suggested Netflix could be a top contender for UFC content and events. This means ESPN+ could lose valuable UFC content in the near future.