About The Author
Jao is a Manila-based freelance writer and former editor. He spends most of his free time playing video games, wasting time on Reddit, and pestering his pet cats.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is the premier venue for the world’s biggest mixed martial arts (MMA) bouts, and UFC’s 2023 season is poised to be one of its best years yet.
Whether you’re a UFC veteran of many seasons waiting for your favorite fighters to take to the Octagon, or a newbie looking to get into one of the most-watched championships in the world, our handy guide will show you how to watch UFC matches anywhere in the world.
Key takeaways:
For those that live in the US, watching the UFC is quite an easy task. There are multiple bundles and subscription options that exist, such as the following:
All of these options can be accessed via their own websites or via their apps on Google Play or the Apple App Store.
Watching the Ultimate Fighting Championship outside of the US, however, is slightly more difficult. UFC president Dana White has been quite dedicated to cracking down on illegal streams, and this dedication extends to restricting certain regions from watching the UFC.
Thankfully, one easy workaround to this issue is a VPN (virtual private network), which basically lets you “spoof” your online location. For example, if you live outside of the US, you can use a VPN to connect to a server located in the US, and any website that you connect to would be none the wiser, allowing you to watch UFC streams unhindered.
If you want to watch UFC matches with a VPN (
ExpressVPN, in this example), all you have to do is follow these simple steps:
Get ExpressVPN. Pick a plan that best works for you, and install the app on your device.
Open the app, and connect to a VPN server location in the US.
Head to the UFC Fight Pass website, and subscribe.
Log in to the app or website, grab a beer or two, sit back, and enjoy the fight!
If you’re stuck with a ton of browser tabs open looking for the best VPN to watch UFC matches on, then look no further: Our next section covers the finest VPNs for the discerning MMA connoisseur.
To be able to watch UFC matches online from anywhere and at any time, you’d need a VPN. However, not just any VPN will do: Using a bad VPN may cause your stream to lag at an inopportune time and spell the difference between witnessing a legendary ground and pound, and missing it completely and wondering why the crowd is going nuts. Plus, having a good VPN lets you watch bouts in HD with little to no issues.
To ensure that you never miss any of the action, you’ll need to make sure that the VPN that you use is up to snuff (and has servers in the US). Here are some of our picks:
ExpressVPN ($8.32 per month for a 12-month subscription) offers a sleek, user-friendly interface and very fast speeds, enabling you to stream UFC matches in HD without any hiccups.
NordVPN ($4.99 per month for a 12-month subscription), on the other hand, is slightly cheaper than Proton and is both fast and easy to use. As for the experienced tech savant, NordVPN also offers a robust suite of tweakable features.
2023 stands as the 30th year of UFC’s colorful history, and even though the year has just begun, this year has started off with a bang.
The Octagon’s third decade has kicked off with two title fights and its first-ever tetralogy bout in UFC 283, with UFC two-time Flyweight Champion Deiveson Figueiredo squaring off against former champion and current interim titleholder Brandon Moreno in the cage.
Figueiredo and Moreno’s rivalry goes back to December 2020’s UFC 256, where both fought in a match as close as it was even, ending in a majority draw and with UFC President Dana White declaring that both fighters had to run it back “immediately.”
Six months later, Figueiredo and Moreno once again dueled in UFC 263, which Moreno handily won in the third round with a rear-naked choke, earning the UFC Flyweight Championship belt. The rivals’ tit-for-tat continued in UFC 270, with Figueiredo winning by a unanimous decision.
UFC 283 stood as the grand finale for the two, and Moreno triumphed over Figueiredo, reclaiming the Flyweight Championship belt in a brutal bout that ended in the third round with a doctor’s stoppage and Figueiredo’s eye being swollen completely shut.
Just recently, on February 12, Yair Rodríguez became the interim Featherweight Champion after submitting Josh Emmett four minutes into the second round, becoming the second Mexican-born champion in UFC history.
These are but a few highlights of what is sure to be an action-packed year for the mixed martial arts scene.
With all of these rivalries and feuds coming to a head, what’s there to look forward to in the UFC’s 30th year?
Well, Leon Edwards, the current UFC Welterweight Champion, will be defending his title against Kamaru Usman in March’s UFC 286, to be held in London.
The welterweight title fight marks the third meeting between the two, who are 1–1, with Usman defeating Edwards in UFC on FOX 17 and Edwards pulling off one of the greatest comebacks in UFC history in August 2022 in UFC 278. In the final round, Edwards scored a devastating kick to the head, knocking out Usman with just mere seconds left in the bout.
Needless to say, the third match between the two is poised to be one of the year’s most legendary bouts.
Less than a month after UFC 286, April’s UFC 287: Pereira vs. Adesanya 2 is yet another heavily anticipated match, with Israel Adesanya challenging Alex Pereira at the Miami-Dade Arena for the UFC Middleweight Championship belt.
The two previously met in UFC 281, with Pereira turning the tide and scoring a TKO stoppage on Adesanya two minutes into the fifth round.
And now, on to the rumor mill:
Love him or hate him, Conor McGregor is one of the biggest names in MMA history, and both fans and haters flock to see what’s next for one of the world’s biggest athletes.
In 2021’s UFC 264, Dustin Poirier handily defeated the plucky Irishman in the first round via a doctor’s stoppage, with McGregor suffering a broken leg and Poirier becoming the UFC Lightweight Champion.
Since then, rumors abound as to when and where McGregor would make his comeback to the MMA stage, and just this January, his longtime head coach John Kavanagh stated that he fully expected the MMA superstar to make his long-awaited return before the year is over.
Kavanagh specifically listed Nate Diaz, Justin Gaethje, and Michael Chandler as potential bouts that might get McGregor squared away and back on the saddle to train again.
With every passing year, UFC grows in terms of viewership and towards becoming one of the biggest sports in the world. If you want to be able to watch the year’s most action-packed bouts anywhere and at any time, keep our handy tips (and VPNs) in mind!
Jao is a Manila-based freelance writer and former editor. He spends most of his free time playing video games, wasting time on Reddit, and pestering his pet cats.
