It appears that the International Fight League has done what the Ultimate Fighting Championship wasn’t able to: sign a television deal with HBO.
The IFL announced today that HBO Latin America will begin showing IFL content in 2008. The HBO deal will bring IFL programming to a spanish language audience covering Latin America, Brazil and the Caribbean.
“Serving one of the fastest growing demos for Mixed Martial Arts, the Hispanic market both in the United States and abroad, is a major priority for the IFL in 2008,” said IFL CEO Jay Larkin. “We are very pleased to be able to start that progress with one of the hallmark brands in all of broadcasting, HBO, and its Latin American arm.”
HBO Latin America joins an ever-growing international TV lineup for IFL programming, which includes MyNetworkTV, HDNet and FSN in the United States, MBC in the Middle East and parts of Africa, Star TV in Asia, CanWest Global and Fox Sports Canada in Canada, EGO in Israel, ITV in the United Kingdom, TV4 in Sweden and Armed Forces Television worldwide.
While HBO Latin America’s reach is a far cry from the main HBO channel here in the US, it still is a good start in the right directly. Now the IFL has an inroad with HBO and should the HBO Latin America programming be successful, it can only open the door for possible HBO-IFL content here in the US.
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WOW… I DUNNO… WHAT THE HELL IS THE UFC DOING WRONG HERE…. IS IT DANA…. IS IT THE FERTITAS… WHO IS IT??
Personally I love this… means that I don’t have to go out and get HBO to see any of the UFC fights.. also means that any fights not on PPV will probably be free on Spike…
[quote comment="12535"]Personally I love this… means that I don’t have to go out and get HBO to see any of the UFC fights.. also means that any fights not on PPV will probably be free on Spike…[/quote]
I KNOW WHAT U LOVE KANSAS… THAT WAND POSTER YOU PULLED OUT OF THAT PLAYGIRL… LOLJK.. GOOD POINT… FREE FIGHTS ON TV
[quote comment="12535"]Personally I love this… means that I don’t have to go out and get HBO to see any of the UFC fights.. also means that any fights not on PPV will probably be free on Spike…[/quote]
Good point Kansas. I don’t have HBO either and don’t want to have to add it just to watch a few fights.
Muy bien! Mi gusto MMA de HBO!
Guys it is the IFL and it will be probably be produced by HBO with their crappy commentators in Spanish. I really do not think that the UFC is too concerned with the competition.
[quote comment="12551"]Muy bien! Mi gusto MMA de HBO!
Guys it is the IFL and it will be probably be produced by HBO with their crappy commentators in Spanish. I really do not think that the UFC is too concerned with the competition.[/quote]
I SECOND THAT.. lol
there is a very good reasons things like this need to happen. one major reason is because the UFC needs someone to compete with, better yet a bunch of people to compete with. a very annoying part of being an MMA fan is this statement “MMA, it means mixed martial arts. you know like UFC? yeah thats MMA.” and 50% of the time they say “oh ultimate figting!”
i love the UFC as much as anyone but UFC is NOT MMA, the UFC is the top of the heap in the MMA scene, but they are not all that is MMA. i remember a time when i had to explain to casual fans what PRIDEFC was. heres hoping for a time when the casual MMA fan will say “whats UFC i never seen that one?” im not saying i want the UFC to fail i just want the rest of them to succeed.
oh sh*t guys! this message is for all the Wanderlei Silva fans out there, i think Wand could be in trouble in this next fight. i just seen a video of Chuck from a few years ago and in this fight he had a war, he took a beating and just kept on coming, he even had a few standing 8 counts (it was a boxing match btw) and yet he never stopped fighting. i dont know if Wand can bring it like this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XXZCkDDetY&NR=1
watch the video and let me know if you changed your mind, im a bit worried for Wanderlei.
[quote post="1072"]i love the UFC as much as anyone but UFC is NOT MMA, the UFC is the top of the heap in the MMA scene, but they are not all that is MMA. [/quote]
Yeah, I agree. It is horrible when people who are just seeing MMA for the first time are calling it Ultimate fighting……….I have even heard celebrities on TV call it Ultimate Fighting.
Back in the days when I first started training the UFC was not widely known, in fact I think people called it “No Rules Fighting”, then “NHB Fighting”. It was a little more tolerable to hear it called Ultimate fighting, because to be honest it did not really have an identity in those days.
As for today the shows needs to be promoted as MMA and I think with more exposure to other events like the IFL the masses will finally realize that the it is a legitimate sport that is called Mixed Martial Arts
@DOC
FROM WHAT IM READIN DANAS LETTING ARLOVSKI GO ??TRUE??
[quote comment="12565"]@DOC
FROM WHAT IM READIN DANAS LETTING ARLOVSKI GO ??TRUE??[/quote]
Arlovski’s management team keeps saying that Andre wants to stay in the UFC and not go anywhere else.
[quote comment="12558"]oh sh*t guys! this message is for all the Wanderlei Silva fans out there, i think Wand could be in trouble in this next fight. i just seen a video of Chuck from a few years ago and in this fight he had a war, he took a beating and just kept on coming, he even had a few standing 8 counts (it was a boxing match btw) and yet he never stopped fighting. i dont know if Wand can bring it like this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XXZCkDDetY&NR=1
watch the video and let me know if you changed your mind, im a bit worried for Wanderlei.[/quote]
OMG! IS THAT REAL OR JUST A GUY THAT LOOKS LIKE OL’ CHUCKIE?
Well.. kinda sad.. I dunno.. both Rua’s have now officially left Chuteboxe to open a GYM in Massachusetts, I am sure it will probably be in Framingham .. Wand has left Chuteboxe earlier this year.. they only have a couple big names left, but have produced so many champions..
Good luck to Silva and the Ruas.. looks like they could be fighting each other now that they aren’t in the “brotherhood” together anymore.. I don’t think they have trained together for more than 6 months at this point.. so they are going in different directions now…
DOC WHERE ARE YOU AT ON THIS?? WHEN HUGHES ANNOUNCED THE OPENING OF HIS NEW GYM IN ST. LOUIS, AND HIS EXODUS FROM MILETECH YOU WERE ON IT IMMEDIATELY, SAME WHEN COUTURE LEFT TEAM QUEST TO VENTURE “EXTREME COUTURE”…
Chute Boxe leader Rudimar Fedrigo on Tuesday announced, via the Chute Boxe website, that Murilo “Ninja†and Mauricio “Shogun†Rua have officially left the team.
“We regret the (departure) of Murilo and Mauricio Rua,†commented Fedrigo indicating that they were leaving to form their own team in the United States. “The doors of Chute Boxe will always be open to them and we wish them good luck.â€
The Rua brothers are the latest in a number of talented fighters that have made the decision to leave Chute Boxe recently.
Shogun is a former Pride Middleweight Grand Prix winner and Ninja a former EliteXC middleweight champion.
The most high profile fighter to leave has been former Pride middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva, who is set to make his Ultimate Fighting Championship return on Dec. 29 against Chuck Liddell.
Andre “Dida†Amade, who made it to the K-1 Hero’s 154-pound tournament final this year, also announced his decision to leave the team recently. He is moving to Canada to accept an offer to teach mixed martial arts and Muay Thai.
“I have talked with Master Rafael Cordeiro and I’ve never seen him so sad with anything,†said Dida of his decision to leave. “He was disappointed with the news. I consider him as a father, but I have to leave.”
The departure of the Rua brothers along with Silva and Amade will have a tremendous impact on the once dominant Brazilian team. The foursome represents much of the success that the team has had in recent years.
@MMAK,
Kansas pal, you gotta cut me some slack bro, haha. I was tied up all afternoon and evening yesterday with a client and didn’t have time to post any updates in the afternoon. I heard the news and had a story coming for it, just didn’t have time to blast it out last night.
Thanks for keeping me on my toes though.
[quote comment="12577"]@MMAK,
Kansas pal, you gotta cut me some slack bro, haha. I was tied up all afternoon and evening yesterday with a client and didn’t have time to post any updates in the afternoon. I heard the news and had a story coming for it, just didn’t have time to blast it out last night.
Thanks for keeping me on my toes though.[/quote]
Sorry man.. you know me.. any and all Chuteboxe / I am on it quick.. sorry forget you have a life outside of this… hehe