Watching UFC 257 on ESPN+ was impossible for many fight fans.
If you ordered UFC 257 in the United States, your only option for legal viewership was the ESPN+ streaming service. So when the network was inaccessible for many fight fans, Twitter was awash with complaints even from UFC fighters themselves.
As many were locked out, ironically in a week in which Dana White was threatening any illegal streamers, I’m sure illegal streaming soon became the method for watching at least the first two main card bouts.
Service has seemingly been restored for many as of this writing, but ESPN did release a statement on this very messy situation.
“We are aware of an issue impacting some fans’ ability to access to tonight’s PPV event and are working to resolve it as quickly as possible,” per The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch.
Again, this is seemingly isolated to the United States, but I imagine many are none too happy that they forked over $70 and didn’t get the full broadcast as promised.
Such is the risk when it’s a massive pay-per-view with only one way to watch it legally.