Bellator announces multi-year deal with DAZN streaming service

That massive September 29th Bellator card that you’ve been hearing about? That’s going to air exclusively on the streaming service DAZN (pronounced Da Zone, for those unfamiliar).

This card, which will feature a middleweight title super fight between divisional kingpin Gegard Mousasi and beefed-up welterweight champ Rory MacDonald, as well as a fourth fight between MMA legends Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson and Wanderlei Silva, will kick-start a multi-year deal between Bellator, parent company Viacom, and DAZN.

Bellator President Scott Coker announced this exciting news at a Tuesday press conference.

“This exciting new partnership with DAZN is a game-changer for Bellator,” Coker stated at the press conference (transcribed by MMAMania). “The investment will enable us to continue expanding our roster with free agents that make sense so we can put on pay-per-view-worthy fight cards that fans will want to see. Plus, on DAZN’s worldwide platform, our fights will be seen live for the first time to new audiences around the globe.”

By the time this September 29 card occurs, DAZN will be available to fans in the USA, Canada, Italy, Switzerland, Australia, Germany and Japan. For those in markets where DAZN is not available, such as the United Kingdom, this September 29th Bellator mega-card will air on the promotion’s traditional platforms. In other words, tune in to whichever channel you watched Bellator on before.

At present, the price-point for Bellator’s DAZN shows has not been announced. These details are expected to be revealed soon.

Interestingly, Scott Coker also used this press conference to confirm reports of a welterweight Grand Prix. That said, Coker did not reveal who would participate in the tournament — only suggesting that Ed Ruth and Andrey Koreshkov were likely options.

All this to say that Bellator is going digital with one hell of a fight card — very possibly their biggest ever. Stay tuned for more details as they emerge.

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 6/26/2018.