CHICAGO, Ill. (September 6, 2011) — Spike.com, a leading destination for men on the web, will stream LIVE undercard fights throughout the 12-week season of Bellator Fighting Championship that begins Saturday, September 10. It was jointly announced today by Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney and Erik Flannigan, Executive Vice President, Digital Entertainment, MTV Networks Entertainment Group. This marks the first time Spike.com has streamed live mixed martial events.
Spike.com will stream Bellator’s live undercard fights each week from 7:00-9:00 p.m. ET/PT, leading into MTV2’s live coverage of the 5th season of Bellator Fighting Championships at 9 p.m. ET/PT. For the first time ever, Bellator will be simulcast in HD on EPIX.
“Fight fans have been coming to our site for years for great mixed martial arts clips and information,” said Flannigan. “Now we are thrilled to provide them with action-packed live fighting each week.”
“We are thrilled to join forces with Spike.com,” said Rebney. “The Spike brand is synonymous with mixed martial arts worldwide and is another member of the MTV family, who does an incredible job in resonating with the hard-to-reach 18-to-34-year-old male audience.”
Bellator’s 5th season premieres with Bellator 49 from Caesar’s in Atlantic City, N.J., featuring four highly-anticipated quarterfinal welterweight tournament fights. Bellator showcases a unique format of world-class fighting with 12-week, eight-man tournaments featuring some of the most dynamic fighters in the world, including Lightweight World Champion Eddie Alvarez, Middleweight champion Hector Lombard, Featherweight champion Joe Warren, Welterweight champion Ben Askren, Bantamweight champion Zack Makovsky, Light Heavyweight champion Christian M’Pumbu, Heavyweight champion Cole Konrad and Women’s 115-pound champion Zoila Frausto.
For more information, visit Bellator.com, follow Bellator on Twitter @BellatorMMA or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Bellator
Spike.com and MTV2 are both divisions of MTV Networks, owned by Viacom (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B).