Univision Deportes, Combate Americas Announce Multi-Year Agreement

Univision Deportes and Combate Americas jointly announced a multi-year partnership to produce and distribute live Combate Americas fight programming on Univision and Univision Deportes Network (UDN).

The agreement marks the first time ever that Univision Deportes will produce and distribute live MMA programming, with 16 television airings, beginning with a live, 90-minute broadcast on Univision (12am ET/ 12am PT) and UDN (12am ET/ 9pm PT) of the recently announced “Combate Estrellas I” show at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on April 13.

“We’re incredibly excited that our growth last year has culminated with a new partnership with Univision Deportes, a sports media brand that is home to some of the best sports and entertainment programming,” says Combate Americas CEO Campbell McLaren.

“Univision Deportes is proud to partner with Combate Americas to bring fans the best programming of one of the most popular sports today,” says Juan Carlos Rodriguez, president, Univision Deportes. “As the leading Spanish-language sports brand, our commitment to deliver high-quality sports content is reinforced through this new partnership, bringing fanáticosthe top MMA events in a way that only Univision Deportes knows best.”

The complete 2018 schedule, which will be announced soon, will include several dates on both Univision and UDN.

The live shows will all air in a 90-minute window and will follow the live stream of Combate Americas preliminary bout cards on UnivisionDeportes.com.

The live Univision broadcast of “Combate Estrellas I” will be headlined by a much-anticipated  rematch between bantamweights John “Sexi Mexi” Castaneda (16-3), representing the U.S., and Marc “Lufo” Gomez (21-11), representing Spain.

In the co-main event, five-division world boxing champion Amanda “The Real Deal” Serrano (0-0), fighting out of Brooklyn, N.Y., will make her long-awaited MMA rules debut, representing Puerto Rico against rising star Erendira “Aketzaly” Ordoñez (2-1) of Mexico in a flyweight contest.

A featherweight contest between Jose “Froggy” Estrada (4-1), representing the U.S. and fellow striking machine Pablo “Gallo Negro” Sabori (8-4) of Mexico, will open the live broadcast.