| AXS TV Fights | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Starring | Pat Miletich Ron Kruck |
| Production | |
| Running time | 150 minutes or until fight card ends |
| Original release | |
| Release | 2007 – present |
AXS TV Fights is the brand name of AXS TV's live mixed martial arts (MMA), Muay Thai and kickboxing broadcasts. Formerly known as HDNET Fights , the program's name was changed to AXS TV Fights in July 2012, following the network's rebrand from HDNET to AXS TV. [1]
HDNet Fights was founded in 2007 by billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban, owner and founder of HDNet, as a programming cornerstone to build the new network on. Cuban's goal was to present MMA in a manner more in line with other professional sports, while eliminating ancillary details such as ring card girls. Taking a hands-on approach in the business and promotion of MMA, Cuban became one of the sport's most vocal defenders in his blogs and interviews. [2] [3] [4] [5] HDNet Fights hosted its first self-promoted event on October 13, 2007, featuring a light-heavyweight main event contest between Erik Paulson and Jeff Ford. [6] The program's second and final event, Reckless Abandon, was held two months later. [7] Realizing that the company's strength did not lie in hosting fight cards, Cuban re-vamped the HDNet Fights concept, as HDNet began broadcasting live weekly events from other organizations, including many top regional fight promotions. [8]
After acquiring the rights to air Japanese Fighting and Entertainment Group's MMA promotion Dream in the United States for the first time ever, HDNet premiered a repeat of the Dream 1 event on May 2, 2008. A repeat of Dream 2 aired the following day, and Dream 3 aired live on May 11. [9] On February 6, 2009, HDNet announced they had reached an agreement with another Japanese MMA promotion, and competitor to Dream, World Victory Road. The promotion made its United States debut with a broadcast of its "Sengoku" events, opening with World Victory Road's first event of 2009 on March 20. [10]
Under the HDNet Fights banner, the network's broadcast lineup included DREAM, Sengoku, K-1 and K-1 Max, Strikeforce, Adrenaline MMA, SportFight, Ring of Fire, Ring of Combat, M-1 Global, Ring of Honor, Maximum Fighting Championship, Affliction Entertainment, Urban Conflict Championship and the now-defunct IFL, among others. [10]
Since its regeneration as AXS TV Fights, the program has become a major fixture in AXS TV's Friday night programming line-up, with the network airing over 40 live events per year. [11] The AXS TV Fights broadcast lineup has featured events from promotions including BAMMA (USA), [12] Legacy Fighting Championship, [13] Lion Fight Muay Thai, [14] Maximum Fighting Championship , [15] Resurrection Fighting Alliance, [16] Titan Fighting Championships , [16] and Xtreme Fighting Championships . [17] In August 2014, the network announced a multi-year deal with CES MMA. [18] The following January, the network joined forces with Legacy Fighting Championship, airing the promotion’s first-ever kickboxing event on January 16, 2015. [19]
On March 14, 2014 AXS TV Fights aired the North American premiere of the Russian Hip Show: Arena Combat. A two-on-two, points-based fighting event on a padded obstacle course instead of a traditional ring or cage. The pilot episode was a two-hour "best of" special, featuring lightweight and middleweight tournaments from 2012. [20] English commentary was provided by Cyrus Fees and Casey Oxendine.
AXS TV Fights' presentation of LION FIGHT 16 on July 4, 2014, was the network's historic 250th fight broadcast. [21]
On March 21, 2015, AXS TV Fights announced it would hold its first ever co-promoted mixed martial arts event featuring fighters from Resurrection Fighting Alliance (RFA) and Legacy Fighting Championship (Legacy) May 8, 2015. The event, titled "AXS TV Fights: RFA vs. Legacy Superfight" included a headlining fight between RFA Flyweight Champion Alexandre Pantoja and Legacy Flyweight Champion Damacio Page, two co-main events featuring intra-organizational title fights for each promotion, and three fights between RFA and Legacy contenders on the main card. [22]
AXS TV Fights broadcast its 300th combat sports event on October 23, 2016, with Lion Fight 25. [23]
On Sept. 19, 2016, RFA president Ed Soares appeared on "The MMA Hour" to announce the merger of Resurrection Fighting Alliance and Legacy Fighting Championship to become Legacy Fighting Alliance beginning in 2017. The newly announced promotion also signed a multi-year deal with AXS TV Fights. [24]
The network celebrated its 400th live event broadcast with LFA 40 on May 25, 2018 [25]
On September 13, 2019, was announced the end of the partnership between AXS TV and LFA. [26]
On November 6, 2019, AXS TV and the MMA organization Combate Americas announced broadcast deal for 35 events in 2020. [27]
AXS TV Fights' commentary team included UFC Hall of Famer Pat Miletich and sports broadcaster and reporter Ron Kruck, with media personality Phoenix Carnevale reporting cageside.
Sports broadcaster "The Voice" Michael Schiavello was the play-by-play commentator from 2009 to 2017. In May 2017 Schiavello announced his last event with AXS TV Fights would be Legacy Fighting Alliance 13 in Burbank, CA. [28]
From 2010 to 2016, Schiavello also conducted in-depth interviews with combat sports stars on The Voice Versus, which aired intermittently in primetime. [29]
AXS TV Fights currently broadcasts events from the following promotions:
AXS TV Fights has previously broadcast events from the following promotions:
Under the HDNET Fights banner, the network broadcast fights from the following promotions:
| # | Event | Date | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AXS TV Fights - RFA vs. Legacy Superfight | 8 May 2015 | United States |
AXS TV is an American cable television channel. Majority-owned by Anthem Sports & Entertainment, it is devoted primarily to music-related programming and combat sports—including boxing, mixed martial arts and professional wrestling.
King of the Cage (KOTC) is a mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion based in Southern California, United States.
Fight Network is a Canadian English language Category B specialty channel owned by Anthem Sports & Entertainment. The network broadcasts programming related to combat sports, including mixed martial arts, boxing, kickboxing, and professional wrestling.
World Victory Road (WVR) was a Japanese mixed martial arts (MMA) organization which promoted the Sengoku Raiden Championship (SRC) in Japan. The organization was formed in 2007 following the purchase of PRIDE FC by Zuffa. It operated in conjunction with the Japan Mixed Martial Arts Federation (JMM). The Sengoku championship was broadcast on Fuji TV and pay-per-view in Japan, and on HDNet in United States.
Dream was a Japanese mixed martial arts (MMA) organization promoted by former PRIDE FC executives and K-1 promoter Fighting and Entertainment Group.
HDNet Fights was a US based television outlet for various MMA and combat sports promotions. Its broadcast lineup included DREAM, Sengoku, K-1, Strikeforce, Adrenaline MMA, M-1 Global, Ring of Honor, Maximum Fighting Championship, Affliction Entertainment, Urban Conflict Championship, BAMMA, XFC, Superior Challenge, CFA, Titan Fighting Championships and the now defunct IFL among others. As of February 19, 2010, it has promoted two events of its own and broadcast 60 events by other promotions. After July 2, 2012, when HDNet re-branded itself as AXS TV, HDNet Fights was re-branded as AXS TV Fights.
Inside MMA was a live mixed martial arts news magazine, which aired on AXS TV, immediately following the network's live AXS TV Fights broadcasts. Hosted by Mauro Ranallo and UFC Hall of Famer Bas Rutten, the series provided an in-depth look at the world of MMA, with live breakdowns, talk, highlights, and analysis from major MMA organizations such as the UFC, Bellator, and the World Series of Fighting. Inside MMA debuted on AXS TV, then known as HDNET, in September 2007, and was the longest-running MMA news show on television.
Michael Schiavello is an Australian sports commentator and journalist. He has commentated for AXS TV, K-1, Dream, Maximum Fighting Championship, King of the Cage, ONE Championship and The Contender Asia. He has also written for more than 50 publications worldwide, was the long-serving editor of Blitz Magazine, was the editor of International Kickboxer magazine until 2009, was a feature writer for Inside Sport magazine, and was the youngest ever inductee to the Best Australian Sports Writing Awards.
BAMMA (British Association of Mixed Martial Arts) was a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United Kingdom. It premiered on June 27, 2009, and was shown on the television channel Bravo. BAMMA events were shown live on ITV4 in the UK and Ireland, KIX in Asia (in Indonesia aired on tvOne), VEQTA Digital Broadcast Sports Network in India, Kwesé Sports in Africa, DAZN in Germany & Russia, FITE TV and UNILAD (Online). BAMMA events stream live on the UNILAD Facebook Page (Prelims) and ITV4 (UK) & Fite.tv (US) (Main Card). BAMMA 29 was shown on free to air channel Dave, and BAMMA 30 was also shown there on 7 July 2017 as was BAMMA 31. BAMMA 33 was shown on ITV4 on December 15 2017. The last BAMMA event was held in London on June 28, 2018.
Titan Fighting Championship is an American mixed martial arts promotion based out of Pompano Beach, Florida. Their shows were originally run in and near Kansas City and have since expanded to include venues all over North America and eventually, international locations. Since July 2015, Titan FC events are broadcast on the UFC online streaming service UFC Fight Pass, which also showcases a library of the organization's previous events.
The Legacy Fighting Alliance (LFA) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Houston, Texas. It was created as a result of the Legacy Fighting Championship and Resurrection Fighting Alliance merger in 2016.
Cyrus Fees is a television and media personality based in the United States of America (USA), who is best known for his work as a ring announcer for Ultimate Fighting Championships, Dana White's Contender Series host for Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, and play-by-play commentator for Eagle Fighting Championship.
Anthem Sports & Entertainment is a Canadian multinational media company based in Toronto, Ontario and founded by Leonard Asper.
2017 was the first year in the history of Legacy Fighting Alliance, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States.
2018 was the second year in the history of Legacy Fighting Alliance, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States.
2019 was the third year in the history of Legacy Fighting Alliance, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States.
2020 was the fourth year in the history of Legacy Fighting Alliance, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States.
2021 was the fifth year in the history of Legacy Fighting Alliance, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States.
Chidi Njokuani is an American mixed martial artist and former Muay Thai kickboxer, who currently competes in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional MMA competitor since 2007, he also formerly competed for Bellator MMA, RFA, Tachi Palace Fights, and Legacy FC.
2023 is the seventh year in the history of Legacy Fighting Alliance, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States.
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