It’s been pretty good.”Ĭurrently, Bellator officials including Rebney have already been meeting with Spike TV officials to start to collaborate on the plan for 2013. Make it better, make it more exciting, make it a more entertaining experience for fans both live and on television. “Their focus and their drive is exactly where our focus and our drive is at. It’s been a tremendous, tremendous relationship,” Rebney stated. They know more about our space and our fighters, and mixed martial arts as a whole worldwide, than anybody in the entertainment industry. They’re creative, you get to see the brand grow at a rate that otherwise there’s no potential way it could grow at. “It’s been great because of their suggestions and because of their ideas. Their creative influence is already being felt at Bellator, as Spike TV gets ready to launch their new programming directive in the next year. Spike TV officials worked closely with the UFC for the past several years as they were side-by-side with the promotion during the launch of the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, as well as UFC Fight Night events, UFC pay-per-view events, and several other specials that aired on the network.Īfter the UFC decided to sign on with Fox networks at the close of 2011, Spike TV wanted to stay in the MMA business, so their parent company Viacom purchased a major stake in Bellator.

They know more about production and promotion and marketing and public relations and live event orchestration.” They wrote the book on developing stars in the mixed martial arts space. They wrote the book on branding mixed martial arts. “They wrote the book on televised mixed martial arts. “In a word it’s been awesome,” Rebney told MMAWeekly Radio. The relationship has already started to flourish and according to Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney, they couldn’t be happier to be involved with the godfathers of televised MMA. Spike TV officials, as well as the marketing department and the public relations staff, have been hard at work getting Bellator branded before they debut there in eight months. Bellator Fighting Championships may not be officially moving to Spike TV until 2013, but the plans and preparations are already in motion for the MMA promotion to land on the network.

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