The UFC and most importantly The Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV is one of the most important steps in MMA history. That ended in 2011, when the UFC moved to FOX. Spike parent company Viacom lost the independent UFC, so acquired Bellator later that year, putting it on their MTV2 and in 2013 on Spike, which was later rebranded as Paramount Network.
Fitting a sport into the entertainment-oriented Paramount Network was apparently never a great fit. Now ESPN’s Ariel Helwani reports that Bellator MMA will be moving next month to CBS Sports Network.
“Bellator’s final show on Paramount Network will be on Sept. 12, sources say,” tweeted Helwani. “That’s the card headlined by Archuleta x Mix. They will then move over to CBS Sports Network. Debut date for CBSN is TBD. Prelims + main card there. Bellator first aired on Spike/Paramount in Jan. ’13.
“Future could lead to big CBS/Showtime events but that’s not planned yet. All sources I’ve talked to expressed excitement over the move. Feeling was Paramount was not a great fit. They’d prefer to be on a sports channel and will get promoted more there. My 2 cents: I agree.
“Technically, there is one year left on the DAZN deal, but their future isn’t 100%, so that is TBD, too.”
https://twitter.com/arielhelwani/status/1296917998578655232
This announcement by Luke Thomas, formerly MMA senior editor at SB Nation (MMAFighting, MMA Mania, Bloody Elbow, etc) is yet another indication that CBS Sports is getting into the MMA business, in a big way.
