Bellator Signs UK TV Deal With VIVA

More big news emerging from Bellator this week – they’ve just signed a TV deal with VIVA in the UK.

It means that Bellator events will now start airing live in the UK, starting with their ‘summer series’ and continuing with season 9 which starts later in the year.

VIVA is a channel run by Bellator and Spike TV owners Viacom and tends to draw heavily on entertainment programming from MTV as well as Comedy Central.

While it’s not an especially popular channel, the good news for UK fans is that it is available free-to-air in every home and over 50% of it’s audience is already in the 18-34 year-old demographic.

“We are thrilled to finally bring the pure excitement of Bellator MMA to the legions of dedicated and knowledgeable mixed martial arts fans in the UK,” Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said of the deal. “Our long awaited expansion into the U.K., one of the world’s MMA hot beds further illustrates our continued ascension in the MMA world.”

Overall, this seems like a good move for all concerned and ends what’s already been a very positive week for Bellator on a high note.

Ross Cole
Ross launched MMA Insight (previously FightOfTheNight.com) in 2009 as a way to channel his passion for the sport of mixed martial arts. He's since penned countless news stories and live fight reports along with dozens of feature articles as the lead writer for the site, reaching millions of fans in the process.