ESPN and the Ultimate Fighting Championship have struck a deal, allowing for UFC events to be streamed on their ESPN+ service. 

The deal means that 15 pay per views must be streamed on ESPN+, each featuring 12 bouts. 

ESPN will also release thousands of hours of content to be streamed by fans, similar to the WWE Network, which launched February 2014.

UFC manager Dana White released a statement: 

"I couldn’t be more excited to partner with The Walt Disney Company and ESPN on an agreement that will continue to grow our sport. UFC has always done deals with the right partners at the right time and this one is no exception.

We will now have the ability to deliver fights to our young fan base wherever they are and whenever they want it.” UFC’s fan base is among the youngest in U.S. professional sports, with a median age of 40 and an audience comprising 40% millennials."

It is believed that this deal may lead FOX, who used to have streaming rights for UFC, to attempt a deal with WWE.