UFC and Joe Hand Promotions Team Up to Offer Package of Live Combat Sports Events to Bars and Restaurants

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 7, 2026--

UFC ®, the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization, and Joe Hand Promotions, UFC’s exclusive commercial distributor throughout the United States, today announced a new premium subscription package of live sports programming available to commercial establishments in the United States, including bars and restaurants.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260507767441/en/

The offering, entitled Championship Rounds, includes UFC’s full slate of 13 marquee Numbered Events and 30 Fight Nights; all cards from Zuffa Boxing, the new promotion led by UFC’s Dana White; UFC BJJ, the world’s new premier Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu live event series; and Power Slap, the world’s premier slap fighting organization.

Commercial subscribers will gain access to the full portfolio of UFC live content, with no need to purchase events one by one. While a single a-la-carte UFC event delivers approximately three hours of programming, the subscription provides 25+ hours of live UFC content per month, including Numbered Events, Fight Nights, and prelims. That’s nearly ten times more fight content and the best value for venues that show UFC regularly.

Beyond UFC, the monthly subscription expands the offering even further. Zuffa Boxing, UFC BJJ, and Power Slap contribute more than nine additional hours of live combat sports programming each month, ensuring continuous, live combat sports entertainment that keeps customers engaged throughout their visit.

“This new Championship Rounds package represents a significant evolution in how we deliver UFC and other combat sports events to our commercials partners and the fans who consume our content out-of-home,” said David Shaw, Executive Vice President, Head of International & Content, UFC. “By bringing together UFC, Zuffa Boxing, UFC BJJ, and Power Slap into one offering, we’re giving commercial venues a consistent, year-round pipeline of premium content that drives engagement, customers, and revenue. It’s a big win for our commercial partners and for the fans.”

The Championship Rounds combat sports package offers commercial establishments a value proposition that sets it apart from other major sports: year-round programming with no off season. UFC survey data of commercial establishments shows that UFC programming typically attracts groups of 3-5 customers who are deeply engaged during the 3+ hours of live UFC programming, with 88% of those customers returning to patronize those establishments on non-UFC nights.

“We are proud to once again team up with UFC as the exclusive commercial distributor nationwide,” said Joe Hand, Jr., President of Joe Hand Promotions. "We deliver a high-quality experience to our customers, regardless of their signal provider. This UFC package, now including live boxing, BJJ and Power Slap, is a tremendous offering, and we are excited to provide value that consistently drives traffic to commercial establishments."

With over 50 years of experience in distributing combat sports and entertainment programming, Joe Hand Promotions is the nation’s premier distributor of premium sports content to sports bars, casual-dining restaurants, casinos, military bases, and universities, including thousands of venues in the United States.

The next UFC event that Joe Hand Promotions will bring to establishments across the U.S. will be UFC ® 328: CHIMAEV vs. STRICKLAND, which takes place Saturday, May 9 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. The main event features an exciting middleweight championship grudge match that will see Khamzat Chimaev defend against former titleholder and current No. 3 ranked contender Sean Strickland. In the co-main event, flyweight champion Joshua Van puts his title on the line against rising star and no. 3 ranked contender Tatsuro Taira. The main card starts at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT, with the prelims beginning at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT., and the early prelims kicking off at 5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT.

Sports venues, sports bars, restaurants and other locations where sports fans gather can schedule showings in their location by contacting Joe Hand Promotions at 1-800-557-4263 or visit www.joehandpromotions.com.

About UFC ®
UFC ® is the world's premier mixed martial arts organization (MMA), with more than 700 million fans and approximately 363 million social media followers. The organization produces more than 40 live events annually in some of the most prestigious arenas around the world while distributing programming to more than 950 million broadcast and digital households across more than 210 countries and territories. UFC's athlete roster features the world's best MMA athletes representing more than 75 countries. The organization's digital offerings include UFC FIGHT PASS ®, one of the world's leading streaming services for combat sports. UFC is part of TKO Group Holdings (NYSE: TKO) and is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. For more information, visit UFC.com and follow UFC at Facebook.com/UFC and @UFC on X, Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok: @UFC.

About Joe Hand Promotions
Founded in 1971, Joe Hand Promotions is the nation’s premier distributor of premium sports content to commercial establishments, including bars, restaurants, and casinos. JHP has been a trusted partner for decades to brands such as the UFC, WWE, DAZN, Premier Boxing Champions, and others, delivering premium viewing experiences to fans while creating value for venue owners across the country.

Championship Rounds

GENEVA (AP) — In a political shift Thursday, the International Olympic Committee said athletes from Belarus should once again compete with their full national identity and not be vetted for neutral status, even as the war in Ukraine continues.

Though the non-binding advice to sports governing bodies does not yet apply also to Russia, it seemed to point toward being closer to ending Russia’s isolation in Olympic circles during its war on Ukraine as the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Games approaches.

Athletes from Russia and its military ally Belarus had to be approved as neutrals who did not support the war for individual events at the 2024 Paris Olympics and February’s Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. The countries were barred from all team sports at the Olympics.

“The IOC reaffirms that athletes’ participation in international competition should not be limited by the actions of their governments, including involvement in a war or conflict,” the Olympic body said.

The IOC noted the qualification period “starts this summer” for Los Angeles, where more than 200 national Olympic teams are set to compete for more than 350 medal events on the program.

The updated Olympic position more than four years into the war on Ukraine also comes after repeated calls from critics of Israel for sporting sanctions to be applied because of the conflict in Gaza.

The IOC has under president Kirsty Coventry and her predecessor Thomas Bach resisted those requests, and on Thursday cited its task to “navigate the ever-increasing complex realities and consequences of the current geopolitical context.”

One barrier to Russian athletes' full return is an ongoing World Anti-Doping Agency investigation into recent reports, including by the New York Times, implicating Russian anti-doping agency official Veronika Loginova.

The IOC said its executive board noted “with concern the recent information” being looked at by WADA, without naming Loginova.

The Russian Olympic Committee has been suspended by the IOC since October 2023 for incorporating regional sports bodies in illegally occupied eastern Ukraine.

“Whilst the ROC has held constructive exchanges with the IOC on its suspension,” the IOC said, “it remains suspended while the IOC Legal Affairs Commission continues to review the matter.”

Coventry told reporters at an online news conference there is no set timetable to complete the legal review.

Track and field's World Athletics excluded athletes and officials from Russia and Belarus out of its international events within days of the war starting. The IOC's move Thursday will not change that.

“Our council has made a clear decision that when there is tangible movement towards peace negotiations it can begin to review its decisions,” the Monaco-based track body said.

Sports officials in northern European and the Baltic countries have taken strong positions against Russia and Belarus since 2022, and the Swedish sports confederation on Thursday called the IOC's advice “deeply unfortunate.”

A total of 32 neutral athletes competed in Paris, combining to win five medals including one gold in trampoline by Ivan Litvinovich of Belarus. One silver medal was won by the 20 neutral athletes in Milan and Cortina.

At the previous Olympic editions, a Russian team of 335 athletes went to the Tokyo Summer Games held in 2021 and 209 went to the 2022 Beijing Winter Games. Belarus sent 101 and 26, respectively.

A Belarus team should now expect to regain privileges at the 2028 Olympics — march under a national flag in the opening and closing ceremonies, wear uniforms in national colors, and hear the anthem played for gold medalists.

The IOC announced its Belarus news hours after a positive doping test was revealed for one of the country's four medalists at the Paris Olympics.

Weightlifter Yauheni Tsikhantsou, who took bronze in the men's 102-kilogram class in Paris, is not suspended while his case is prosecuted by the International Testing Agency. Growth hormone was found in a sample Tsikhantsou gave in March, the ITA said Thursday.

The IOC board chaired by Coventry gave updates on the 2030 Winter Games in the French Alps and picking a host for the 2030 Youth Olympic Games.

An ongoing review of the Winter Games program will be confirmed in June but cannot include in France any sports not played on snow and ice, Coventry said. There has been speculation about adding new sports or boosting the winter program with indoor sports from the Summer Games.

The youth hosting contest was moving to a vote next month but stalled Thursday because of IOC uncertainty about a strategy for what it aimed to achieve, Coventry said, noting “very disjointed” views worldwide.

The bidders are Asunción, Paraguay; Bangkok, Thailand; and Santiago, Chile.

AP Winter Olympics at https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

FILE - Ivan Litvinovich of the Individual Neutral Athletes celebrates after winning the gold medal during the men's trampoline finals in Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)