Viacom has some big changes in store for 2018. The broadcasting and cable juggernaut will be rebranding Spike, the home of Bellator MMA. Spike will transform into the Paramount Network. The move is set to be in full effect early next year. Viacom CEO Bob Bakish made the announcement this morning (Feb. 9). Before the […]
Viacom has some big changes in store for 2018. The broadcasting and cable juggernaut will be rebranding Spike, the home of Bellator MMA. Spike will transform into the Paramount Network. The move is set to be in full effect early next year. Viacom CEO Bob Bakish made the announcement this morning (Feb. 9). Before the […]
Today in Houston, Texas as part of the festivities leading into tomorrow night’s Bellator MMA card, Bellator president Scott Coker announced that they will be launching a sub-brand, Bellator Kickboxing. Coker, of course, was a kickboxing promoter for decades before he ever got into MMA promotion. That’s why you sometimes hear about Strikeforce existing back into the mid-’80s; it was originally Coker’s kickboxing promotion with Cung Le and AKA head trainer Javier Mendez as the top stars. If you watched kickboxing on ESPN2 in the ’90s through the early ’00s, Coker provided much of that programming, with Lou Neglia’s northeast promotion making up most of the rest.
Coker and company unveiled a logo for the kickboxing promotion as part of the presentation:
The first card will take place on April 16th in Turin, Italy as part of a co-promotion with the Oktagon promotion that runs in the region. According to MMA Junkie’s report on the announcement, among the names being pushed as Bellator Kickboxing stars were Joe Schilling, Raymond Daniels, Kevin Ross (one of Lion Fight’s signature stars), Keri Taylor-Melendez (Gilbert Melendez’s wife), and recent Bellator signee Anastasia Yankova.
Something like this had been rumored for a while, and became fairly obvious when Glory Kickboxing finished up with Spike TV after the “Glory” portion of the combined Bellator/Glory “Dynamite” card last year barely included Glory talent. On top of that, the Italy date and Oktagon’s involvement had both been public for a while, and it never really made sense why Bellator was co-promoting wth a local kickboxing group for a major MMA card.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1oBhSq0xEA
Today in Houston, Texas as part of the festivities leading into tomorrow night’s Bellator MMA card, Bellator president Scott Coker announced that they will be launching a sub-brand, Bellator Kickboxing. Coker, of course, was a kickboxing promoter for decades before he ever got into MMA promotion. That’s why you sometimes hear about Strikeforce existing back into the mid-’80s; it was originally Coker’s kickboxing promotion with Cung Le and AKA head trainer Javier Mendez as the top stars. If you watched kickboxing on ESPN2 in the ’90s through the early ’00s, Coker provided much of that programming, with Lou Neglia’s northeast promotion making up most of the rest.
Coker and company unveiled a logo for the kickboxing promotion as part of the presentation:
The first card will take place on April 16th in Turin, Italy as part of a co-promotion with the Oktagon promotion that runs in the region. According to MMA Junkie’s report on the announcement, among the names being pushed as Bellator Kickboxing stars were Joe Schilling, Raymond Daniels, Kevin Ross (one of Lion Fight’s signature stars), Keri Taylor-Melendez (Gilbert Melendez’s wife), and recent Bellator signee Anastasia Yankova.
Something like this had been rumored for a while, and became fairly obvious when Glory Kickboxing finished up with Spike TV after the “Glory” portion of the combined Bellator/Glory “Dynamite” card last year barely included Glory talent. On top of that, the Italy date and Oktagon’s involvement had both been public for a while, and it never really made sense why Bellator was co-promoting wth a local kickboxing group for a major MMA card.
Bellator 106 is moving to Spike TV after the huge news that Tito Ortiz was withdrawing from the promotion’s first ever PPV main event. Ortiz was supposed to fight former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Details remain scarce, but Ortiz suffered a serious neck injury and will not be available to fight next […]
Bellator 106 is moving to Spike TV after the huge news that Tito Ortiz was withdrawing from the promotion’s first ever PPV main event. Ortiz was supposed to fight former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Details remain scarce, but Ortiz suffered a serious neck injury and will not be available to fight next […]
UFC president Dana White always keeps an eye on any potential competitor that could cut into his company’s MMA business. Over the years, White has battled with several promotions and even ended up buying a few of them as the UFC continued to be the biggest MMA organization in the world. Bellator MMA is the […]
UFC president Dana White always keeps an eye on any potential competitor that could cut into his company’s MMA business. Over the years, White has battled with several promotions and even ended up buying a few of them as the UFC continued to be the biggest MMA organization in the world. Bellator MMA is the […]
Remember Lloyd Dobbler? The lovable character portrayed by Jon Cusak in the late 80’s romantic comedy Say Anything? In a notable scene from the cult classic, he was asked by his girlfriend’s father at dinner to talk of his future plans: “So what I’ve been doing lately is kickboxing,” Dobbler said as other family members […]
Remember Lloyd Dobbler? The lovable character portrayed by Jon Cusak in the late 80’s romantic comedy Say Anything? In a notable scene from the cult classic, he was asked by his girlfriend’s father at dinner to talk of his future plans: “So what I’ve been doing lately is kickboxing,” Dobbler said as other family members […]
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and the UFC are going through an ugly breakup at the moment. At this point I’m surprised both sides haven’t gone into scorned teenage girl mode and started posting mean things on Facebook about one another. Although we aren’t at that step just yet, Jackson’s recent comments to Sherdog certainly won’t quell […]
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and the UFC are going through an ugly breakup at the moment. At this point I’m surprised both sides haven’t gone into scorned teenage girl mode and started posting mean things on Facebook about one another. Although we aren’t at that step just yet, Jackson’s recent comments to Sherdog certainly won’t quell […]
