TKO Group Holdings, mother or father firm of the UFC, introduced a multi-year partnership with Polymarket to ascertain the prediction market platform because the unique official prediction market accomplice of each UFC and Zuffa Boxing. The deal integrates predictive market know-how immediately into dwell broadcasts and the fan expertise, and is fast-tracked after the NHL introduced comparable offers with Calci and Polimarket in October.
UFC and Polymarket
A core characteristic of this partnership is a fan prediction scoreboard that seems throughout UFC matches, displaying in real-time how tens of millions of followers all over the world are predicting the end result of every struggle. This scoreboard differs from conventional sports activities betting in that it visualizes collective sentiment quite than odds set by bookmakers.
Polymarket founder and CEO Shayne Coplan defined the way it works in an interview with CNBC, noting that the platform permits followers to purchase and promote predictions as momentum adjustments all through the sport. “What’s fascinating about our strategy is that all through the struggle you’ll be able to really purchase, promote, and commerce like shares,” Coplan stated. Every UFC occasion incorporates a scoreboard that measures the “pulse” of the group in actual time.
Prediction markets are totally different from conventional sportsbooks like FanDuel and DraftKings. Slightly than betting on mounted odds, customers enter into yes-or-no contracts on particular outcomes, reminiscent of whether or not a specific fighter will win a specific spherical. Every contract trades at a value between $0 and $1, and the worth displays the market’s collective evaluation of the chance of that consequence. As new data emerges throughout a struggle, a fighter’s efficiency, harm, or change in technique, merchants alter their positions and the worth strikes accordingly. This steady adjustment creates what market operators describe as a dynamic assortment of cloud intelligence.
TKO Government Chairman and CEO Ariel Emanuel stated the partnership will unlock a brand new dimension of fan engagement. “By partnering with Shayne and his workforce at Polymarket, we’re unlocking a brand new dimension of fan engagement. Integrating Polymarket with the dwell UFC and Zuffa Boxing experiences will permit followers to work together with these occasions in real-time, reworking passive viewing into lively participation.”
This settlement extends past dwell broadcasting. UFC and Polymarket are collaborating on a social media sequence titled “Matchup Predictions – Who’s Subsequent?” It is going to be streamed after UFC occasions throughout official UFC channels together with Fb, Instagram, Threads, and X.
Polymarket’s entry into this unique association comes amid important adjustments within the firm’s regulatory place. Polymarket confronted restrictions on its operations in the US after settling with the Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee in 2022 for working as an unregistered derivatives platform.
In July 2025, the CFTC and the Division of Justice closed the investigation with out submitting new fees. Shortly thereafter, Polymarket acquired QCEX, a CFTC-licensed derivatives alternate and clearing home, in a $112 million transaction, establishing the authorized framework essential to function in the US. The timing of this partnership comes amid elevated scrutiny of the integrity of UFC betting. UFC President Dana White introduced in early November that the FBI was investigating suspicious playing exercise surrounding the November 1, 2025 UFC Combat Evening occasion.
Polymarket founder Shayne Coplan is a rising star within the know-how and finance worlds. Born in 1998, Koplan based Polymarket in 2020 after dropping out of New York College and initially constructed the platform from his toilet in the course of the pandemic. His funding in Ethereum throughout its preliminary coin providing in 2014 formed his early understanding of blockchain know-how and cryptocurrencies. In October 2025, Koplan acquired an funding from Intercontinental Trade (ICE), the mother or father firm of the New York Inventory Trade, and was acknowledged because the world’s youngest self-made billionaire on the age of 27, giving Polymarket a valuation of $9 billion.
The partnership additionally consists of affect on TKO’s boxing promotion, Zuffa Boxing, scheduled to launch in January 2026. Polymarket will function Zuffa Boxing’s first official model accomplice, offering in-arena activations and digital content material for upcoming fights beginning in 2026. The scope of this settlement means that prediction market integration might prolong to a number of martial arts amenities concurrently.
