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The Weekly Wrap: Dec 3 - Dec. 10

Jack EncarnacaoDec 11, 2010
Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney: Dave Mandel | Sherdog.com


Bellator to FX

Bellator Fighting Championships, the fledgling tournament-based league that was plagued by television preemptions its past two seasons, has reportedly reached a deal that will guarantee it airs in a consistent national time slot every week.

MMAJunkie.com reported the promotion’s shows will air on the FX cable network, a FOX property, on Thursdays. The promotion’s second and third seasons aired on Fox Sports Net, but affiliates across the country regularly preempted the events for local sports and, some weeks, did not air them at all.

The new deal also reportedly calls for pre-recorded recap shows of Bellator events to air on Fox Sports Net and Fuel TV. It remains unclear what will come of Bellator’s deals to air recap shows on NBC late Saturday nights and on Spanish network mun2.

Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney did not confirm the reports but has spoken for several weeks about a new television deal being imminent. FX is in 90.6 million U.S. households; by comparison, Spike TV, the UFC’s cable home, is in 96 million homes.

Bellator’s fourth season is set to begin in the spring and feature tournaments in the middleweight, lightweight, featherweight and welterweight divisions.