Beginning in October, Bellator MMA will move to a new home at CBS Sports Network. The new broadcast partnership kicks off with Bellator 247 card on Thursday, Oct. 1, a card headlined by Paul Daley and Derek Anderson. All preliminary fights, beginning with Bellator 247, will be available on CBSSports.com.
The news comes on the heels of another significant move from Bellator on Friday, locking down the first-ever MMA card to be held in France where MMA was only recently legalized. The 13-fight card from Paris will air on CBS Sports Network on Saturday, Oct. 10. In the main event, Cheick Kongo battles Tim Johnson while Michael "Venom" Page takes on Ross Houston in the co-main event.
"One of the things that is really exciting for me is that, now, domestic and international events will air on CBS Sports Network, and it will be live," Coker said during a special announcement video on Friday. "So you'll see times from Europe and you'll see times from the United States where it will air live, unlike before when we had to wait on the west coast for the programming. This is something our fans have been looking forward to for a long time and finally we're able to deliver it.
"Again, this is a function of all the different platforms available to us from the Viacom family and we're happy to make the change and be over on a sports network. I will say this, Viacom's commitment to mixed martial arts has been strong since 2005. Since 2011, Viacom has been supporting mixed martial arts through Bellator through MTV2, through the Spike days and Paramount. Now, because of the merger we're able to shift over to a sports channel."
Also confirmed Friday by Bellator president Scott Coker is Bellator 249, headlined by Cris Cyborg putting her women's featherweight title on the line against Arlene Blencowe on Thursday, Oct. 15. To conclude the month and Bellator's debut slate on CBS Sports Network, an Oct. 29 fight card will be headlined by welterweight champion Douglas Lima moving up a weight class to take on Gegard Mousasi for the vacant middleweight championship.
"We're excited to have CBS Sports Network serve as the new home of live Bellator MMA events. It's a great opportunity to showcase some of the best events and biggest names in the sport," said CBS Sports Executive Vice President of Programming Dan Weinberg. "Adding Bellator MMA to the CBS Sports portfolio will allow for greater promotion, engagement and exposure across all our platforms and assets including CBS Sports Network, CBSSports.com, CBS Sports HQ as well as our various social accounts."
Bellator began airing events on Paramount Network -- then called Spike TV -- in 2013. The promotion added additional viewing options via a deal with streaming service DAZN in mid-2018.
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September 12, 2020 at 01:25AM
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Bellator MMA announces broadcast move to CBS Sports Network beginning with loaded October slate - CBS Sports
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