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Bellator MMA has signed a multi-year deal with Brazilian media conglomerate Globo for the media rights to stream their fights in Brazil. The fights will be aired on Combate, the conglomerate's leading provider of premium combat sports content in the South American nation.
The announcement was made via the fight organization's official website. The first event to stream on Combate will be this weekend's event, Bellator 290 where the heavyweight champion Ryan Bader will take on 'The Last Emperor' Fedor Emelianenko in a rematch.
As per the announcement, company president Scott Coker had the following to say with regard to the multi-year deal between the fight promotion and the Brazilian media conglomerate:
"We are thrilled to have BELLATOR's fights airing on Globo, the leading network for combat sports in Brazil. Brazil is home to some of the most knowledgeable and passionate MMA fans in the world and now they can follow their favorite BELLATOR stars whenever they compete."
The official Combate Instagram handle put out the following post announcing the event:
Bellator has seen some of the best fighters that the world has to offer
Bellator might be in contention with the Professional Fighters League or PFL for the title of the second-best MMA organization. Regardless of which organization takes the title, there's no doubt that the PFL is home to some of the best fighters in the world.
The promotion was founded by Bjorn Rebney in 2008, with the organization having a single-elimination tournament-style format, the first big difference from the UFC. In 2014, then-chairman Debney and the former company president were relieved of their positions in the company.
In the same year, former Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker succeeded Debney as the president of the organization. Coker brought in a massive overhaul of the organization's format, where the season-long tournament format was dropped in favor of the more traditional single-fight event format.
Scott Coker with former middleweight champion Rafael Lovato Jr.:
The organization is home to some of the best fighters in the world, apart from the UFC (and now, PFL). It has seen legendary names like Eddie Alvarez, Benson Henderson, Ben Askren, Rory MacDonald and Fedor Emelianenko fight in its circular cage.
The current roster of fighters includes names like Patrício Pitbull, Cris Cyborg, AJ McKee, Michael Page, Douglas Lima, and Usman Nurmagomedov.
