Yahoo Sports Bellator Plans Aggressive Global Expansion in 2016
Bellator MMA is set to take its cage outside North America for the first time with an aggressive global expansion plan for 2016. Company president Scott Coker on Tuesday confirmed that Bellator intends to events in London, Tel Aviv, and Italy next year.
“We are thrilled to bring the incredible excitement of hard-hitting Bellator action, featuring some of the best athletes in the world, to our new global partners in the UK, Israel, and Italy,” said Coker. “The London event is especially encouraging as we will broadcast the main card in the UK on one of the country’s most-distributed broadcast channels, Channel 5.”
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The event in London will be held at the O2 Arena with the main card broadcast live on Channel 5 in the UK and on tape-delay on Spike TV in the U.S. Also, Spike UK will broadcast the prelims live in the United Kingdom.
In Israel, the Bellator MMA broadcast will air locally on Ego Total.
Although no dates or bouts were revealed in the Bellator release on Tuesday, the London event has been rumored for a possible July date. Official details on all three international fight cards will be announced in the coming months.
