The world’s leader in mixed martial arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), has teamed up with the world’s leader in kickboxing, GLORY, as well as added Brazilian jiu-jitsu events to its online catalog.
UFC Fight Pass announced on Thursday evening that its has added the GLORY “Superfight Series” and Eddie Bravo Invitation (EBI) jiu-jitsu events to its digital streaming service.
“We are proud to announce our new partnerships with the GLORY kickboxing and EBI Brazilian jiu-jitsu organizations,” said UFC Senior Vice President and UFC Fight Pass General Manager, Eric Winter. “This is a huge development for FIGHT PASS. We haven’t just added some kickboxing and some BJJ to FIGHT PASS — we partnered with leaders in both sports. GLORY has established itself as the pinnacle of world kickboxing while EBI leads the way in exciting, fast-paced submission grappling. Both of these organizations are tremendous additions to FIGHT PASS.”
GLORY “Superfight Series” will air on UFC Fight Pass starting on Fri., Feb. 26, 2016, with a headlining bout between Joe Schilling and Mike Lemaire, which precedes GLORY 27 from Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.
In addition to airing “Superfight Series” cards, UFC Fight Pass has acquired the rights for the GLORY kickboxing back library and also the “It’s Showtime” and K-1 fight libraries, too. Those fights will be uploaded “beginning immediately,” according to the release.
“We are honored to partner with the UFC to bring GLORY fans and all combat sports fans kickboxing on UFC Fight Pass,” GLORY CEO Jon J. Franklin told MMAmania.com. “They are the world leaders in MMA. We are the world leaders in kickboxing. For GLORY, it’s great to have our ‘Superfight Series’ as part of the UFC FIGHT Pass Global platform and to get our GLORY library of spectacular kickboxing content on air on the worlds premier fight channel.”
The first EBI event for Fight Pass will air on Sun., April 24, 2016, from Los Angeles, California.
“BJJ legend Eddie Bravo is well-known to UFC fans, having trained dozens of UFC athletes over the years and also having served as a UFC broadcaster on occasion,” Winter said. “What Eddie has been doing with his EBI events over the last couple of years is make BJJ accessible to MMA fans. EBI uses the same weight-classes as we do in the UFC, and the rules are set up to encourage athletes to be very aggressive and go for submissions from start to finish. The result is an exciting product that I know our loyal FIGHT PASS customers are going to love.”
On EBI being added to Fight Pass, Bravo said, “The UFC FIGHT PASS partnership is nothing short of a dream come true. UFC is responsible for the explosion of popularity for BJJ around the world, and having EBI on UFC’s digital streaming service is the perfect fit for us. I am incredibly confident that MMA and jiu-jitsu fans will love the full-throttle entertainment EBI is going to deliver on UFC FIGHT PASS.”
GLORY and EBI join Invicta FC, Pancrase, Victory FC, Shooto Brazil, Titan FC, BRACE MMA and EFN in the ever-expanding live content on UFC Fight Pass.