Anthem Sports and Entertainment’s 2019 has been a portfolio builder, to say the least. Today, they’ve announced a new partnership with emerging MMA promotion Combate Americas.
The partnership will see AXS TV and Fight Network become the exclusive broadcast partner for Combate Americas in North America. As the promotion’s English language broadcaster, the networks will air a minimum of 35 live events from the promotion in 2020. At a press conference today, co-creator of UFC, Campbell McLaren had a few choice words about the state of MMA and why Combate Americas is the sport’s most exciting brand.
As McLaren puts it, Combate America’s fights don’t end with judges they end with fighters. The Hispanic driven MMA company brings a more action-oriented style that comes from having the hungriest young athletes in the sport today.
To shoulder the live events, AXS will also air special “best of” and “inside with the fighters” programming. Also in attendance today were UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz and former WWE World Champion turned MMA fighter Alberto “El Patron” Rodriguez. McLaren would use the press conference to also hype the promotion’s first live television Pay Per View event on December 7 from Hidalgo Texas. The event will crown the promotion’s first female champion. Its main event will be an exhibition fight between Ortiz and Rodriguez.
Though some on the internet have criticized the fight as being a publicity stunt neither were taking seriously, to hear the fighters talk today it shows just how much it means to both men. Tito Ortiz was issued the challenge by “El Patron” and has been through 14 weeks of training camp. To Ortiz, if he was simply collecting a paycheck he would not be sacrificing time away from his family or putting his body through the amount of punishment required to get in top physical shape. Though Alberto “El Patron” is part of the leadership in Combate Americas and had a long career with many milestones, he sees this as his biggest test as a fighter.
While neither man is looking past the other, Ortiz did say he would be fighting again in the future but Alberto sees this as his last fight for the foreseeable future in order to focus on his executive role in Combate Americas.
One of the other interesting notes about today’s press conference was McLaren and Anthem Chief Corporate Officer Ed Nordholm’s willingness to entertain the idea of Combate doing cross overs with AXS TV’s other combat programming such as New Japan Pro Wrestling, Impact Wrestling, and WoW women’s wrestling. Though nothing has been talked about, it remains a possibility for down the line.
On December 6, AXS TV will air a one-hour special which highlights the story behind the Ortiz/Rodriguez fight as well as promote Combate Americas a day before their PPV. The promotion’s first live event aired on AXS TV and Fight network will be in January 2020.
