The cage is set. @BellatorMMA
is now on @Showtime
#BellatorOnShowtime announcement LIVE: https://t.co/n9RpyBRNuXGet a 30-day free trial, then just $4.99/mo for the next 6 mos. New
subscribers only: https://t.co/eXPmkdCUXh pic.twitter.com/39zYDvDhqX
— SHOWTIME SPORTS (@SHOsports)
February 9, 2021
Bellator MMA will begin its 2021 schedule in a new broadcast
home.
The California-based promotion announced Tuesday that it will air
exclusively on Showtime beginning with a trio of events in April.
In conjunction with that partnership, Showtime is offering a 30-day
free trial followed by a monthly rate of $4.99/month for six
months.
“We’ve been interested in MMA for quite a while. We have a long
history in the sport going back 15 years,” Showtime president
Stephen Espinoza said. “We’ve been talking to Scott [Coker] off and
on since 2014 when he took over as Bellator president. When you
look at the trajectory of Bellator, the time just felt right for us
to combine forces. Bellator has matured and elevated itself to a
point where it now belongs on a premium television network.”
The schedule will kick off on April 2 with
Bellator 255, which is headlined by a featherweight grand prix
semifinal between reigning 145-pound champion Patricio
Freire and Emmanuel
Sanchez. Meanwhile,
Bellator 256 on April 9 and
Bellator 257 on April 16 will each feature a pair of
quarterfinals from the newly-announced light heavyweight grand
prix.
Finally,
Bellator 258 will take place on May 7 and will be topped by a
bantamweight title tilt between Juan
Archuleta and Sergio
Pettis. All of the aforementioned events are expected to be
held at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.
According to Coker, the plan is for Bellator to hold approximately
two events per month for the rest of 2021 following the three-event
Showtime launch in April. Bellator has struggled to find a
consistent broadcast home in recent years, bouncing from Paramount
Network to Dazn to most recently, CBS Sports Network.
Coker worked with Showtime in the past as president of the
now-defunct Strikeforce organization, which also aired on the
premium network before it was purchased by Zuffa and absorbed into
the UFC.
“This is really a full circle opportunity,” Coker said. “When I
look at the past, like Stephen said, with Strikeforce we created so
many great champions, we created so many great fighters that really
have led the way for the history books and the legends of mixed
martial arts fighters moving into the future. But what I’m really
excited about now is over the last five years we have really put
together the pieces and this is the best roster in the history of
Bellator. So I’m really excited, I’m really excited to put it on
Showtime, we have some exciting things to announce. It’s going to
be amazing.”