MANILA, Philippines - ONE Championship will now be a staple of Philippine free television as Asia’s largest mixed martial arts (MMA) organization inked an exclusive broadcast partnership with ABS-CBN.
ABS-CBN is no stranger to MMA, having broadcasted the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s fight cards and newsmagazine shows on its now-defunct cable sports channel Balls from 2007 to 2015.
When the Manuel V. Pangilinan-bankrolled TV5 acquired the broadcast rights of the UFC in late 2015, ABS-CBN saw an opening to offer a television deal with ONE Championship, which locally aired its selected events on IBC 13 before.
“When we said we are committed to helping develop sports in the country, we knew we would have to give exposure not just to popular sports like basketball or boxing. ABS-CBN has played a big role in promoting mixed martial arts in the country for many years, and we hope to continue leading the way by supporting exciting and quality fight leagues in MMA or mixed martial arts, such as ONE," ABS-CBN integrated sports head Dino Laurena said.
The two companies formalized their joint venture on Thursday, April 14 at City of Dreams in Paranaque City.
However, the exact terms and length of the agreement between ONE Championship and ABS-CBN were not publicly disclosed.
“ABS-CBN is by far the largest TV broadcaster in the Philippines with reach that spans the entire country, as well as internationally to millions of homes across the globe. We’re excited at the multitude of possibilities this tremendous opportunity presents to bring our unique brand of world-class mixed martial arts action to Filipino fight fans all over the world,” ONE Championship CEO Victor Cui stated.
As the official broadcast partner, ABS-CBN will air ONE Championship events through its “Sports and Action” outfit, starting with the “Global Rivals” card on April 15.
ONE: Global Rivals, which takes place at the 20,000-seater SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, is headlined by a welterweight championship clash between current titleholder Ben Askren and Nikolay Aleksakhin.
In the co-main event, Team Lakay’s Geje Eustaquio faces Malaysia flyweight Gianni Subba. – Rappler.com