By Damon Martin

The biggest UFC fight in 2018 probably won't take place inside the Octagon.

Instead, the UFC's toughest battle will likely happen in the boardroom as executives attempt to secure a lucrative television broadcast rights deal that will begin in 2019 at the conclusion of the current contract with FOX.

Earlier this year, the UFC entered into a three-month exclusive negotiating period with FOX that didn't see the two sides come any closer to extending their agreement. The two parties signed the initial deal that kicked off back in 2012, which paid the promotion approximately $120 million per year. 

Since that negotiating period ended, FOX has reportedly offered the UFC $200 million per year for the television rights. And while this figure is a bump up from the current deal, it’s still nowhere near what the owners of the most successful outfit in MMA were seeking.

When the UFC sold to a conglomerate led by powerhouse talent agency WME-IMG for just over $4 billion in 2016, part of the business prospectus for investors was recouping funds from the new television deal that they valued at around $450 million per year.

FOX's offer comes in well under that number, which has led to speculation the UFC might attempt to split their television rights between multiple outlets.

Following an initial report from the Sports Business Journal, sources confirmed the UFC has engaged in preliminary talks with several other potential suitors. Turner Sports and NBC have met with the promotion, but no deal has been reached at this time.

UFC President Dana White also left the door open for a possible digital player to get a seat at the table with online streaming services such as Amazon and Oath (the Verizon owned company) potentially getting in on the bidding as well.

Yet, given the current landscape of things, it seems unlikely any streaming service would offer up the kind of financial package to entice the UFC to an exclusive deal. Still, a digital player like Amazon or even Apple could purchase a portion of the UFC broadcast rights and that would help the company get closer to that $450 million per year goal. 

Here's where the UFC starts to run into some trouble at the worst possible time for these television rights deals to take place.

Turner Sports, as part of the Time Warner family, is embroiled in a potential merger with AT&T, who could potentially find great value in the UFC considering the business the company does on pay-per-view. 

AT&T also happens to own one of the major pay-per-view distributors in the United States with DirecTV.. 

That said, one large problem lingers as AT&T is currently stuck in a legal battle with the Justice Department. The USJD are trying to block the company from purchasing Time Warner, and with a trial date set for March, it's impossible to know how long it will be until a final decision is made. 

As for FOX, rumors have been swirling for weeks that Disney is deep in negotiations to buy a huge part of the company, particularly the film and television studios and several networks including FX. 

Now based on the most recent reports from CNBC, FOX is looking to unload a big portion of the company to stay focused on news and sports. Disney, who owns ESPN, is also reportedly looking to purchase the stable of FOX regional sports networks, which would help them expand coverage nationally for several sports. 

This news could be good or bad for the UFC, depending on whether or not this sale goes through.

Focusing on sports and news only would seemingly make the UFC a commodity FOX could ill afford to let go after selling off the television and film studios. On the flipside, if FOX is really getting rid of most of their television holdings as well as the regional sports networks, all that would be left are FOX Sports 1 and 2 and then the main FOX network. 

All of which would broadcast UFC events, but the problem is based on current broadcast rights deals.

Over the past five years the mixed martial arts promotion has frequently been bumped to other networks such as FX or FXX when conflicts in their programming have arisen. That possibility would no longer be viable if FOX really did sell off all those assets.

If FOX doesn't end up selling, it's tough to say how much the company would be willing to invest in the UFC going forward on a new deal. FOX focuses big portions of their broadcast power into the NFL, Major League Baseball and the 2018 World Cup. 

ESPN would then seem like an ideal home for the UFC, especially if they add even more broadcast power with the FOX regional sports networks. Unfortunately, ESPN wasn't expected to make a significant bid to get the UFC television rights.

If Disney spends more than $70 billion to purchase assets from FOX, it's tough to imagine they'd want to tack on another lucrative sports rights package on the top. That said, anything is possible with Disney involved.

Add to that, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) will have their television rights go up for bidding in 2019. The professional wrestling organization consistently pulls much higher ratings for their programming that airs on the USA Network. 

While WWE is a much different animal than the UFC, prospective television partners are typically going to look at one thing and that is the bottom line. That particular equation favors the Vince McMahon-led company as the WWE is rarely faced with the fluctuating value of fight cards due to starpower or the lack thereof.

For now, the UFC will continue its search with hopes of securing a new television rights deal in early 2018. In the volatile television rights deal marketplace, it's tough to tell where the UFC will end up and how much money the deal will be worth when this is all said and done.