Press Release – 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).
About Bellator Fighting Championships
Bellator Fighting Championships is a Mixed Martial Arts promotional company headquartered in Chicago. Bellator’s founder/CEO, Bjorn Rebney, is an experienced fighting sports and entertainment professional with a deep commitment to the purity and integrity of the sport of MMA and its athletes. Bellator Fighting Championships’ executive team is comprised of top industry professionals in the areas of live event production, television production, fighter relations, venue procurement, sponsorship creation/development, international licensing, marketing, advertising, publicity and commission relations.
About MTV2
MTV2 is a man’s best friend, available in nearly 80 million homes and with the highest concentration of males 12-24 and 12-34 on TV today. A vibrant mix of music, lifestyle and action sports programming, MTV2 has reflected the habits and behavior of young people since its launch in 1996. MTV2 is part of MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom, one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms.
About EPIX
EPIX, a joint venture between Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B), its Paramount Pictures unit, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM) and Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF), is a next-generation premium entertainment channel, video-on-demand and online service launched on October 30, 2009. With access to more than 15,000 motion pictures spanning the vast libraries of its partners and other studios, EPIX provides a powerful entertainment experience with more feature films on demand and online and more HD movies than any other service. It is the only premium service providing its entire monthly line-up of new Hollywood titles, classic feature films, original series, music and comedy specials through the linear channel, video-on-demand and online at EpixHD.com, the leading online destination for movies.
EPIX has made the commitment to deliver the industry’s most expansive online collection of movies, making more than 3,000 titles available on EpixHD.com. The service is available to over 30 million homes nationwide through distribution partners including Charter Communications, Cox Communications, DISH Network, Mediacom Communications, NCTC, Suddenlink Communications and Verizon FiOS.