The 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 agreement with the Professional Fighters League.
The move comes after the Saudi-backed PFL acquired Bellator from Paramount last year in a deal valued at around $500 million following the shuttering of Showtime Sports.
The series will include eight mega events staged in cities across the globe, featuring world-ranked fighters and two title fights during each event. The action will kick off with Corey Anderson taking on Karl Moore at SSE Arenain Belfast in Northern Ireland on Friday at 1 p.m. ET. That will be followed by Bellator Champions Series Paris on May 17 at the Accor Arena.
The rest of the 2024 Bellator Champions Series slate is as follows, with timing to be announced closer to the respective events:
- June 22 – Bellator Champions Series Dublin – 3Arena
- Sept. 7 – Bellator Champions Series San Diego – Pechanga Arena
- Sept. 14 – Bellator Champions Series London – OVO Wembley
- Oct. 12 – Bellator Champions Series Chicago – Wintrust Arena
- Nov. 16 – Bellator Champions Series Paris – ADIDAS Arena
- Dec. 31 – Bellator Champions Series – TBD
In addition to the eight global events, TNT Sports will televise Bellator content through the year via its TruTV programming block, with broadcast details slated to be announced in the coming weeks.
Max subscribers will also have access to two all-access docuseries, “Fight Camp Confidential” and “Fight Week,” which debut Thursday and take fans behind the scenes as fighters push beyond their limits to mentally prepare and train for their matches.
Other programming available to stream on Max will include Bellator’s full library featuring over 300 events with 3,000 fights, pre-fight, post-fight, and original programming, including legends from the sport like Kimbo Slice, “Rampage” Jackson, Chael Sonnen, Wanderlei Silva, Tito Ortiz, Fedor Emelianenko and the full fight history of Bellator homegrown talent like AJ McKee, Johnny Eblen, Aaron Pico, Michael Chandler and Michael “Venom” Page.
“We are thrilled to partner with Professional Fighters League to introduce a new live sport to the U.S. Warner Bros. Discovery content portfolio,” WBD Streaming’s chief financial and strategy officer Josh Walker said in a statement. “The addition of Bellator Champions Series offers our viewers an opportunity to experience highly anticipated mixed martial arts, nicely complementing our robust slate of can’t miss programming.”
“We’re excited for audiences to tune into Bellator’s new home on Max for eight Bellator Champions Series events in 2024 taking place in iconic cities around the globe, featuring world title fights and the biggest stars in combat sports,” PFL CEO Peter Murray added. “There’s an 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 sport’s best to audiences around the world.”
