Best VPNs for Watching UFC Fights
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Last Updated on May 25, 2023
- Lets you avoid UFC blackouts
- Fast speeds mean fewer interruptions when you’re streaming a fight
- Multi-hop technology keeps you safe when you’re watching UFC
- Provides access to UFC fights from any region around the country
- Unlimited simultaneous connections mean you’re protected watching UFC, and at the same time, all your family’s other devices are protected too
- Not only works with UFC Pass but with other sports streamers like ESPN+
- With available dedicated IP addresses, you don’t have to reenter your credentials every time you log on to UFC
- P2P servers let you download UFC torrents in addition to streaming content
- Split-tunneling allows you to use the VPN for sensitive activities and the regular internet to watch UFC at the same time
Don’t let blackouts ruin your UFC experience.
If you love UFC, then you need a UFC Fight Pass. A pass gives you access to current fights, as well as a large library of past fights and lots of other UFC programming. It doesn’t help you, however, if a fight you’ve been waiting to see is blacked out in your region. For that, you need a VPN. With a VPN, you can log on to a server in another region to get a crystal-clear signal.
A VPN is valuable for lots of other reasons as well. By concealing your IP address and routing your traffic through an encrypted tunnel, for instance, a VPN ensures you’re safe and anonymous when you’re browsing online. The real question is: Which VPNs will both protect you and help you access the UFC. Read on to find out.
| NordVPN | Dynamic (dedicated available) |
| Surfshark | Dynamic or shared |
| IPVanish | Dynamic or shared (dedicated available) |
| PureVPN | Shared (dedicated available) |
| CyberGhost | Shared (dedicated available) |
Best VPNs for Watching UFC Fights
- NordVPN - Most secure VPN for UFC
- Surfshark - Best VPN for UFC for families
- IPVanish - Best VPN for UFC with dedicated IP addresses
- PureVPN - Most affordable VPN for UFC
- CyberGhost - Best VPN for UFC for macs
Comparison of the Best VPNs for UFC
| System |
NordVPN
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Surfshark
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IPVanish
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PureVPN
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CyberGhost
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th |
| Ratings | 9.7/10 | 9.5/10 | 9.3/10 | 8.9/10 | 8.9/10 |
| Maximum monthly cost | $11.99 | $12.95 | $10.99 | $10.95 | $12.99 |
| Lowest monthly cost | $3.99 | $2.49 | $3.75 | $1.99 | $2.29 |
| Subscription lengths | 1 month, 1 year, 2 years | 1 month, 1 year, 2 years | 1 month, 1 year | 1 month, 1 year, 2 years | 1 month, 1 year, 39 months |
| UFC Fight Pass | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| ESPN+ | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Netlfix | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Split tunneling | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| IP addresses | Dynamic or dedicated | Dynamic or shared | Dynamic, shared, or dedicated | Shared or dedicated | Shared or dedicated |
| Five Eyes, Nine Eyes, 14 Eyes member | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Multihop | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Read Review | NordVPN Review | Surfshark Review | IPVanish Review | PureVPN Review | CyberGhost Review |
A Detailed List of the Best VPNs for UFC
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1. NordVPN - Most secure VPN for UFC
No VPN keeps you safer than NordVPN. The company offers AES-256 encryption, the OpenVPN protocol, dynamic IP addresses, and multihop technology. NordVPN also has one of the tightest privacy policies in the business, and its location in Panama means no government agencies can demand it turn over customer data.
Headquarters in Panama
When it comes to VPNs, great security starts with a great location. Some countries have formed surveillance alliances known as Five Eyes, Nine Eyes, and 14 Eyes. A company based in any of the countries in the alliance can be forced to turn over customer information to any government agency that shows up with a subpoena. NordVPN, however, is based in Panama, outside these alliances, so it doesn’t have to turn over anything to anyone.
Multihop Technology
The best way to make sure no one is tracking you online is to use a VPN. By definition, a VPN is an encrypted tunnel to a remote server. NordVPN goes one step further than most other VPNs though. Instead of routing your connection through one encrypted tunnel and one server, NordVPN routes you through two or more servers and two or more encrypted tunnels. You pay for one NordVPN subscription, but you’re always at least doubly protected.
Dynamic IP Addresses
Offering dynamic IP addresses is one more way NordVPN helps keep you safe when you’re online. There are basically two kinds of IP addresses. Static, shared addresses will keep you reasonably safe because lots of other users are using the same address as you. That means anyone who happens to be looking can’t tell who is visiting which sites with the address. Dynamic addresses are a little safer, though, because they change periodically so no one can track your movements.
Definition: A dynamic IP address changes periodically, providing extra security when you’re browsing online.
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2. Surfshark - Best VPN for UFC for families
We’re Surfshark fans, which is why the company appears so frequently on our Best VPNs list. As great as Surfshark is for single users like us, though, it’s even better for people with families. Surfshark allows you to install the software on an unlimited number of devices and use them all at the same time, which is perfect if you’re trying to make sure everyone in your family is safe when they browse. Add to that the security of a strict privacy policy and the convenience of features such as split tunneling, and it’s easy to see why Surfshark is such a great deal for parents. You don’t have to pay extra for a family plan though. Surfshark’s monthly price is just $2.49 with a two-year subscription.
Unlimited Devices With Unlimited Simultaneous Connections
We are definitely evangelists for VPNs. You just can’t be safe out there in the world without them. It’s no good having a VPN on one device, though, if you have lots of other devices that aren’t covered. Enter Surfshark. No matter how many devices you may have — and we have more than most — you can cover them all with one Surfshark subscription. Even better, with unlimited simultaneous connections, Surfshark keeps you protected even if you decide to use all those devices at the same time.
Split Tunneling
In addition to unlimited devices and unlimited simultaneous connections, Surfshark offers split tunneling. With this handy little feature, you can log on to the internet through a regular connection at the same time you’re using the VPN. Why is that so useful? It means you can route all your sensitive private online activities through the VPN, but route your normal activities — like your Spotify connection — through whatever public Wi-Fi happens to be available. You can save valuable bandwidth and money.
Strict Privacy Policy
One of the first places to look when you’re trying to decide if a VPN will keep your data safe is the company’s privacy policy. Surfshark has one of the best.1 We like that it begins by pointing out that the company is based in a country — the British Virgin Islands — that doesn’t require it to collect any customer data. The policy goes on to point out that it doesn’t collect any information about what we do online. That includes:
- IP addresses
- Browsing histories
- Session information
- Bandwidth used
- Connection time stamps
- Network traffic
We know we’re surfing in complete anonymity with Surfshark.
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3. IPVanish - Best VPN for UFC with dedicated IP addresses
The name of the game with IPVanish is extras. You get access not only to UFC with the service, but also to all the streaming sports networks. You can purchase a dedicated IP address for extra convenience online, and you get great torrenting tools. Even with all this, IPVanish’s price for a single-month subscription is just $10.99.
Sports Streaming
Interested in sports other than UFC? IPVanish may be just the VPN you’re looking for. You can count on IPVanish to provide a solid connection to UFC — even if you’re overseas — and you’ll have no trouble using it to avoid local blackouts, but IPVanish doesn’t only help you connect to UCF. You get the same great functions and features whether you’re watching baseball through MLB.tv, the NBA with League Pass, football, racing, or golf.
Dedicated IP Addresses
Dedicated IP addresses are special addresses some VPNs offer customers, usually for an additional price. Like dynamic addresses, dedicated addresses provide exceptional security. They also provide something else: a stable identity when you need one. When your address shifts, as it does if you’re using dynamic or shared addresses, secure sites like your bank or UFC’s Fight Pass may not recognize you. A dedicated address means you never have to provide any extra credentials.
Torrenting
You won’t find every piece of UFC’s content on the streaming site. For that, you may need to dig a little deeper. Someone probably has what you’re looking for, but you may have to get it peer to peer through torrenting. That’s where IPVanish comes in. Not only does the company unblock access sites like uTorrent, BitTorrent, and Vuze, but it also provides great download speeds. Our Windows device was just 62 percent slower with IPVanish than normal; our Mac was just 15 percent slower. Plus, IPVanish comes with a kill switch to ensure no one will know you’re torrenting, even if the VPN goes down.
Pro Tip: Torrenting isn’t just about illegally downloading copyrighted content. You can find lots of public domain content bundled in torrents as well.
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4. PureVPN - Most affordable VPN for UFC
You need a VPN to keep you safe when you’re online, but you’re not made of money. We get it. Neither are we. That’s why we appreciate PureVPN. The company manages to keep its prices low without sacrificing any of the security or features you expect from a top-tier VPN.
Affordability
PureVPN’s plans are easy on the pocketbook. The company offers a number of subscription options, including a month-by-month plan and one- and two-year plans. The two-year plan costs less than $2 a month. Even PureVPN’s most expensive plan is a better deal than you’ll find from most other VPNs. At just $10.99 for a single month, you’ll pay almost $2 less than you’d pay for a similar package from ExpressVPN.
PureVPN subscription plans Price Savings Single month $10.95 0 percent 1 year $2.99 73 percent 2 years $1.99 82 percent Great for Travel
VPNs don’t just help you avoid UFC blackouts. They can also allow you to access Fight Pass when you’re overseas. That’s a lot easier if you’re using a VPN like PureVPN, which has tons of servers in spots all over the globe. The closer you are to a server, the faster your connection will be and the less likely your streaming feed is to freeze in the middle of the action. PureVPN has over 6,500 servers in 96 locations in 78 countries.
Kill Switch
The workday is long for all of us, but checking out the latest UFC news can break up the monotony. If you work for a company that monitors all your online activity, then a VPN can be invaluable for helping you get your fix. You definitely want to go with a VPN that has a kill switch, like PureVPN. A kill switch ensures that all your apps and websites will shut down immediately if your VPN connection goes down.
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5. CyberGhost - Best VPN for UFC for macs
CyberGhost has a lot going for it, including AES-256 encryption, a strict privacy policy, and a location outside Five Eyes, Nine Eyes, and 14 Eyes jurisdictions. What we most appreciate about it, though, is its stellar customer service and lightning-fast speeds on Mac devices. CyberGhost’s price is a little steep if you’re looking to purchase a single month, but with a three- year subscription the cost falls to just $2.29 a month. That’s certainly competitive with the rest of the market.
Fast Speeds on Macs
All VPNs slow down your internet connection to some extent. You can’t expect to travel through an encrypted tunnel without paying some price in speed. Our goal is to find VPNs that slow down our speeds as little as possible. CyberGhost fits the bill perfectly, especially if you’re working on a Mac. Our latency increased by just 12 percent when we ran the VPN, and our upload and download speeds were even better. Uploads were 8 percent slower, while downloads were just 3 percent slower.
Military-Grade Encryption
When we’re sending personal data through an encrypted tunnel, we want to be absolutely sure the VPN is using the best encryption methods out there. CyberGhost uses AES-256. What does that mean? It’s complicated and involves phrases like “symmetric key ciphers,” “substitution-permutation networks,” and “key expansion processes.” Here’s all you need to know: The government uses AES-256 for all its encryption. That includes the military and intelligence services such as the NSA.2
Customer Support
Over the years, we’ve found that VPN customer support can be hit or miss. VPNs are sometimes so concerned about privacy that they limit how you can contact them. Most, for instance, don’t offer phone support. We were pleasantly surprised to discover just how responsive CyberGhost is. We tried emailing with a question about split tunneling and got an answer within 24 hours. The website has a knowledge base that includes an extensive FAQ section, a list of troubleshooting suggestions, and tons of helpful guides. Best of all, we were able to get instant help with CyberGhost’s 24/7 online support chat.
Methodology
We’re proud of our process for selecting VPNs for lists like this. We examine every VPN closely, looking at the most important categories, including how well the service keeps you secure, what speeds it delivers, what features are available, how well it treats its customers, and how much it costs. Only when we’ve examined all these factors can we be confident in assigning each VPN a ranking.
Accessing UFC
Our first priority for this list was to find out how well each VPN allowed us to access UFC streaming content. There are multiple ways to access this content. You can get lots of content on ESPN+, for instance, including a complete on-demand library of past fights. If that’s what you’re looking for, then your best bet may be to check out our list of the best VPNs for ESPN+. For this list, though, we concentrated on VPNs that help you access UFC more directly, through the UFC Fight Pass. We were particularly interested in VPNs that let you get around blackouts and log on to the service from anywhere in the world.
Security
A VPN’s security isn’t just about what protocol it uses or how it encrypts user data. Those are important, but so are lots of other factors like where the company is located and whether it has leaks. Below is a complete rundown of what we take into account when it comes to security.
- Encryption: We prefer VPNs that use AES-256 encryption, the same as U.S. spy agencies.
- Protocols: Protocols are the instructions that tell the VPN how to deploy its encryption methods. We’re fans of the OpenVPN protocol because it’s open source and it has been rigorously tested over time. We’ve also been impressed by WireGuard, a more recent entry on the protocol market. It’s open source like OpenVPN, but it uses less code so it works faster.
- Kill switches: A kill switch is designed to shut down all your internet activity if you lose your VPN signal. That way, no one can see what you’re up to online, even if your signal goes down.
- Multihop: Multihop is a newer tool in the VPN universe, but it can greatly enhance your security when you’re online. A normal VPN routes your internet connection through an encrypted tunnel, but a VPN with multihop routes your connection through two or more encrypted tunnels. More encryption equals more security.
- Headquarters location: Companies based in countries that are members of the Five Eyes, Nine Eyes, or 14 Eyes surveillance groups must turn over customer data if they are subpoenaed by government agencies. No surprise, then, that we prefer VPNs located in nonmember countries.
- Privacy policies: We go through every VPN’s privacy policy with a fine-tooth comb to find out exactly what data it records. Every VPN must keep track of some information, such as emails and payment details, but we expect the best companies not to record anything about our online experience. That includes IP addresses, time stamps, and browsing histories.
- Leaks: A VPN can say it’s secure all it wants, but those words are pretty hollow if it has a WebRTC or DNS leak. We check for DNS leaks at DNSLeaktest.com and WebRTC leaks using a tool developed by ExpressVPN. Only VPNs that pass both make our lists.
Speed
You want a fast connection if you’re going to stream UFC. Every VPN will slow down your device to some extent, but some do it more than others. We check the latency, upload speeds, and download speeds of every VPN, using both a Windows and a Mac device. We start by measuring device speeds with the VPN running, then we boot up the VPN and measure speeds again. That gives us a percentage difference for each device, and we can use those percentages to compare various VPNs with one another.
FYI: Latency is the amount of time it takes for a data packet to move from one place to another. It is also known as the ping rate. Lower latency means a faster connection.
Features
A VPN’s first job is to protect you, but it doesn’t hurt if it comes with a few bells and whistles too. Some of the extras we look for include:
- Access to streaming services: All the VPNs on this list let you connect to UFC Fight Pass, but we like it even better if a VPN connects to other services, such as Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, and HBO Max. For more, check out our list of the best VPNs for streaming.
- Torrenting: We’re also fans of torrenting VPNs, which offer specialized torrenting tools and servers dedicated to peer-to-peer sharing.
- Split tunneling: With split tunneling, you can log on to the regular internet at the same time you use your VPN. That means you have to use only the VPN bandwidth you absolutely need. You get a faster connection and you save money.
- Servers: Generally you get a faster, smoother connection if you’re closer to a server and that server has relatively little traffic. The more servers a company maintains and the more places around the world those servers are located, the better your VPN experience is likely to be.
Customer Service
Customer service is becoming more of a lost art every day. That’s just as true for VPNs as for any other product or industry. We always give bonus points to companies that go the extra mile to provide good customer support. Most companies don’t offer phone support. We understand that, since it’s actually for our safety. We don’t want them to know our phone number either. We do like it, though, when a VPN has 24/7 online chat support. Knowledge bases are great, and email is OK, but nothing beats talking to a real person in real time.
Price
They say money makes the world go ’round, right? We look closely at the price of every VPN we evaluate. We start with baseline prices: the cost of a single month of VPN service. Baseline prices aren’t everything though. We prefer VPNs that offer different subscription options and deep discounts for committing to longer subscriptions. It may be worth paying a little extra for better security and more features. After all, even a free VPN isn’t much of a deal if it doesn’t protect you.
We typically look for prices in the range of $10 to $12 for month-by-month plans. Signing up for a year should reduce that price to between $2 and $4 per month.
Recap
It’s dangerous out there, and we’re not talking about ultimate fighting. Hackers are looking to steal your identity. Governments are trying to spy on your browsing habits. Keep yourself safe. Make sure you never log on to a public Wi-Fi network unless you’re fully protected with a VPN.
You really can’t go wrong with any of our top picks for the best VPNs for the UFC. Whether it’s NordVPN, Surfshark, IPVanish, PureVPN, or CyberGhost, each provider has something unique to offer its subscribers.
FAQs
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Can I use a VPN to watch UFC?
Yes, you can use a VPN to watch UFC. A VPN can be especially useful for avoiding UFC blackouts in your region or accessing UFC when you’re overseas. You’ll want to choose a VPN that you know UFC won’t block. We recommend NordVPN because it’s fast, it has lots of great features, and, most importantly, it’s secure. Other great VPNs for UFC include Surfshark, IPVanish, PureVPN, and CyberGhost.
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Can I watch UFC internationally?
Yes, you can watch UFC internationally. Some countries, such as Brazil, don’t provide a connection to the service, but you can use a VPN to simply log on to a server in a country that does have the service, like the U.S.
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Where can I watch UFC for free?
You can get UFC for free if you have UFC Fight Pass or a subscription to ESPN+. Of course, you must pay for both of those services. There is no legal way to get UFC without paying, but both of those services provide access to fights and large content libraries of past fights.
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How much does a UFC Fight Pass cost?
A UFC Fight Pass is available on the UFC website for $9.99 per month or $47.99 for the year.
Surfshark. (2022). Surfshark Privacy Policy. surfshark.com/privacy-policy.
National Institute of Standards and Technology. (2021). Development of the Advanced Encryption
Standard. nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/jres/126/jres.126.024.pdf