Exclusive U.S. rights to the Bellator mixed martial arts championship were acquired Tuesday by Warner Bros. Discovery's streaming service Max in a new deal with the Professional Fighters League.
The move comes after the Saudi-backed PFL acquired Bellator from Paramount in a deal worth about $500 million last year following the closure of Showtime Sports.
The series includes eight mega events held in cities around the world, featuring world-ranked fighters, and two title fights during each event. The match begins on Friday at 1pm ET at the SSE Arena Belfast in Northern Ireland with Corey Anderson facing Carl Moore. This will be followed by the Bellator Champions Series Paris on May 17th at Accor Arena.
The remaining 2024 Bellator Champion Series schedule is below, with timings to be announced closer to each event.
- June 22 – Bellator Champions Series Dublin – 3Arena
- September 7th – Bellator Champions Series San Diego – Pechanga Arena
- September 14th – Bellator Champions Series London – OVO Wembley
- October 12 – Bellator Champions Series Chicago – Wintrust Arena
- November 16th – Bellator Champions Series Paris – Adidas Arena
- December 31 – Bellator Champions Series – TBA
In addition to the eight global events, TNT Sports will televise Bellator content throughout the year through its TruTV programming block, with broadcast details expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
Max subscribers also have access to two all-access documentary series, “Fight Camp Confidential” and “Fight Week,” released Thursday, that explore how fighters mentally prepare and train for a fight. We will give fans a behind-the-scenes look at how they try to go beyond their limits.
Other programming available to stream on Max includes Bellator, which features more than 300 events, including 3,000 games, pre-fight, post-fight, and original programming with sports legends like Kimbo Slice, “Rampage” Jackson, Chel Sonnen, Wanderlei and more; Contains a complete library of. Complete fight history of former Bellator talents such as Silva, Tito Ortiz, Fedor Emelianenko, and AJ McKee, Johnny Evren, Aaron Pico, Michael Chandler, and Michael “Venom” Page.
“We are excited to partner with the Professional Fighters League to bring new live sports to Warner Bros.' Discovery content portfolio,” Josh Walker, WBD Streaming's chief financial strategy officer, said in a statement. said. “The addition of the Bellator Champions Series provides viewers with a much-anticipated opportunity to experience mixed martial arts and complements our strong lineup of must-see programming.”
“Viewers will be able to watch Bellator's new home on Max, watch world title fights and more during the eight Bellator Champion Series events in 2024 in iconic cities around the world,” said PFL CEO Peter Murray. We look forward to featuring some of the biggest stars in martial arts.” . “There has been incredible demand for premium year-round MMA content from major media platforms and this is the latest milestone in PFL's ambition to bring the best of the sport to a global audience. ”
