Paramount+ & CBS Sports Become English Home To Combate Global
June 22, 2021 – Paramount+ and CBS Sports today announced a multi-year agreement with Combate Global to serve as the U.S. English-language home of Combate Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) action.
CBS Sports’ live coverage of Combate Global debuts on CBS Sports Network on June 25 with action then continuing on Paramount+ exclusively from July 9 through the remainder of the 2021 Combate Global schedule which concludes in December. Paramount+ will feature 30 live events annually in 2022 and 2023. In addition, CBS Sports Network will complement Combate coverage with a weekly one-hour recap show with highlights of that week’s card. Details of CBS Sports’ debut fight on June 25 and the remaining 2021 Combate schedule will be announced on a future date.
Combate Global features fighters from across the world with an electrifying country vs. country style of competition, similar to international soccer matches. Fighters will face off in “La Jaula,” the Combate cage.
“The addition of Combate Global’s exciting MMA action is a tremendous opportunity for Paramount+ to further expand its reach to a young and diverse fanbase,” said Jeffrey Gerttula, Executive Vice President and General Manager, CBS Sports Digital. “We believe Combate events will complement the expansive live soccer programming that is now a cornerstone of our industry-leading sports coverage on the service and deliver even more unique sports content across CBS Sports platforms.”
“We are thrilled to partner with CBS Sports and bring Combate Global action to the Paramount+ platform,” said Combate Global CEO Campbell McLaren. “Millions of combat sports fans have heard about Combate Global’s fast and furious version of MMA and can now see for themselves. Find out why Combate is ‘Much More Action’ with our world class announcing team calling the action.”
Combate 30-minute event preview shows and weekly hour-long recap shows will accompany the live event action programming on Paramount+. CBS Sports Network also will feature re-airs of Combate events with Combate’s fight library available on-demand on Paramount+.
The fight telecasts will be produced by Combate Global and take place live from their set in Miami featuring Combate announcers Max Bretos and Julianna Peña, one of the top MMA fighters in the world.
CBS Sports Digital will deliver additional coverage and original programming, and will feature highlights across social channels and CBS Sports HQ, the 24/7 streaming sports news network.