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2018 Lineup includes 16 Television Airings
Across Univision Networks
Historic Partnership Begins with Live Univision Broadcast
of “Combate Estrellas I” from Los Angeles on Friday, April 13
NEW YORK – March 29, 2018 – Univision Deportes and Combate Americas, the premier Hispanic Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) sports franchise, today jointly announced a historic, multi-year partnership to produce and distribute live Combate Americas fight programming on Univision and Univision Deportes Network (UDN).
The agreement marks the first time ever that Univision Deportes will produce and distribute live MMA programming and, in 2018, will include a total of 16 television airings, beginning with a live, 90-minute broadcast on Univision (12am ET/ 12am PT) and UDN (12am ET/ 9pm PT) of the recently announced “Combate Estrellas I” show at Shrine in Los Angeles, Calif. on Friday, April 13.
“We’re incredibly excited that our growth last year has culminated with a new partnership with Univision Deportes, a sports media brand that is home to some of the best sports and entertainment programming,” said Combate Americas CEO Campbell McLaren.
“Univision Deportes is proud to partner with Combate Americas in an effort to bring fans the best programming of one of the most popular sports today,” said Juan Carlos Rodriguez, President, Univision Deportes. “As the leading Spanish-language sports brand, our commitment to deliver high-quality sports content is reinforced through this new partnership, bringing fanáticos the top MMA events in a way that only Univision Deportes knows best.”
The complete 2018 schedule, which will be announced soon, will include several dates across Univision and UDN.
The live shows will all air in a 90-minute window and will follow the live stream of Combate Americas preliminary bout cards on UnivisionDeportes.com.
The live Univision broadcast of “Combate Estrellas I” will be headlined by a much-anticipated, bantamweight (135 pounds) rematch between John “Sexi Mexi” Castaneda (16-3), representing the U.S., and Marc “Lufo” Gomez (21-11), representing Spain.
In the co-main event, five-division world boxing champion Amanda “The Real Deal” Serrano (0-0), fighting out of Brooklyn, N.Y., will make her long-awaited MMA rules debut, representing Puerto Rico against rising star Erendira “Aketzaly” Ordoñez (2-1) of Mexico in a flyweight (125 pounds) contest.
A featherweight (145 pounds) contest between hard-hitting knockout artist Jose “Froggy” Estrada (4-1), representing the U.S. and fellow striking machine Pablo “Gallo Negro” Sabori (8-4) of Mexico, will open the live broadcast.
The complete preliminary bout card, which will stream live on UnivisionDeportes.com, will be announced soon.
Since it launched its live event series in 2015, Combate Americas has emerged as a destination for the best, new fighters from the U.S., Latin America and Spain, and a platform pitting athletes, in a country versus country style format, facing each other in “La Jaula,” the Combate Americas competition cage.
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About Combate Americas
Combate Americas is the premier Hispanic Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) sports franchise, rapidly becoming the number two sport, after soccer, for Spanish speaking sports fans worldwide. The Combate Americas franchise includes reality TV programming, live events and mobile programming. The company's CEO, Campbell McLaren, is universally recognized as the co-founder/co-creator of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). New York Magazine described McLaren as "the marketing genius behind the UFC" and Yahoo! Sports proclaimed that he "knows more about the sport than just about anyone in it today." With an unprecedented product and a blue-chip ownership and management team, Combate Americas is poised to break new ground and bring about a new era in world championship level MMA competition.
About Univision Deportes
Univision Deportes is the multimedia sports division of Univision Communications Inc. (UCI) and includes UDN, the No. 1 Spanish-language sports network in the U.S. Univision Deportes’ portfolio of rights includes all 18 teams in Liga MX, the Mexican National Team, the U.S. Men’s & Women’s National Teams, Major League Soccer, Copa MX, Copa Centroamericana, Copa América, CONCACAF Gold Cup, CONCACAF Champions League, international friendlies, select matches from Liga de Ascenso in Mexico, Portuguese First Division, Dutch First Division, FC Barcelona TV and Bayern Munich TV, Mexico’s Campeón de Campeones and SúperCopa, and Formula 1. Univision Deportes is also the exclusive home to shows such as Premios Univision Deportes, Solo Boxeo, Zona NBA, Republica Deportiva and Contacto Deportivo, the highest-rated Spanish-language sports studio show in the U.S., and delivers comprehensive coverage across platforms on all the latest from the NBA, NFL, MLB, and world of boxing.
