Fight Channel is a Europe-based international satellite and cable

TV channel A television channel is a terrestrial frequency or virtual number over which a television station or television network is distributed. For example, in North America, "channel 2" refers to the terrestrial or cable band of 54 to 60 MHz, with ...

operating under Fight Channel Group. It is specialised in broadcasting

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

sports. In addition to Fight Channel (the basic cable channel), Fight Channel World and Fight Channel PPV, the Fight Channel Group includes one of the most visited martial arts websites in South-East Europe, Fight Site, the martial arts promotion organization

Final Fight Championship Final Fight Championship (FFC) is an international fighting sports promotion company founded in 2003 by the FFC owner and CEO Orsat Zovko. The company has its headquarters in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, as well as a European office in Zagreb, Croat ...

and several other business entities. The seat of Fight Channel is in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

(

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

). Programming covers a wide variety of

events organized by the world's most renowned promotion companies, such as the

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

, K-1,

HBO Boxing ''HBO World Championship Boxing'' (in later years stylized in its title card as ''HBO Boxing – World Championship'') was an American sports television series on premium television network HBO. It premiered on January 22, 1973 with a fight that s ...

Dream A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, althou ...

, Glory WS,

World Series of Boxing 250px, LA Matadors vs. Moscow Dynamo in Hollywood, CA on 4 December 2011. Both amateur boxers compete without vests or head guards. The World Series of Boxing or WSB was an international boxing tournament that allowed amateur boxers to compete p ...

etc. Fight Channel stands out for its live coverage of martial arts events. Already in its first season, the channel had close to one hundred live broadcasts, including the

, Glory WS, K-1,

, Inoki Genome Federation, Sauerland Boxing, FFC etc. Fight Channel also has a

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...

version called Fight Channel PPV. It offers premium contents outside of the standard Fight Channel schedule, usually airing the UFC's and other premium PPV events. In addition to its extensive archive of martial arts events and

live broadcasting A live broadcast, also called a live transmission, generally refers to various types of Media (communication), media that are broadcast without a significant delay. The most common seen media example of the live transmission is a news program or a ...

, Fight Channel also offers documentaries, educational programming and films covering the theme of martial arts.

History

Fight Channel

Fight Channel started operating on May 28, 2011, after several years of preparations and staff recruitment. Fight Channel PPV was launched first, on the Croatian

cable TV Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broadc ...

platform operating under the Deutsche Telekom Group, MaxTV. The first event the channel aired live was Glory 14, held in Russia’s capital

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. The standard cable 0-24 channel was launched on November 1, 2011, on multiple cable systems covering the countries of former Yugoslavia. Presently, Fight Channel broadcasts in

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

and

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

. Fight Channel PPV is on offer in two Croatian cable systems - MAXtv and Bnet.

Fight Channel World

In 2013, Fight Channel Group launched the global version of its channel called Fight Channel World. It differs from Fight Channel mostly in terms of programming, and the global version is adapted for wider audience, while Fight Channel focuses on viewers in South-East

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. Fight Channel World also airs live events organized by the most renowned global martial arts promotion companies, replays of past events, documentaries, educational and scripted programs. Fight Channel World started broadcasting test program in Thailand in June 2013.

Final Fight Championship

In 2012, following the example of the world-famous

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

network and its

series, Fight Channel launched its own martial arts promotion series entitled

Final Fight ''Final Fight'' is a series of beat 'em up video games by Capcom, which began with the arcade release of ''Final Fight'' in 1989. Set in the fictional Metro City, the games focus on a group of heroic vigilantes who fights against the control and ...

, broadcasting live events and selling and distributing broadcasting rights to TV networks worldwide. The first event was called “ Fight Channel presents: Cro Cop Final Fight”, as the world martial arts superstar Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipović fought New Zealand’s

Ray Sefo Ray Sefo (born 15 February 1971) is a New Zealand fight promoter and retired kickboxer, boxer, and mixed martial artist of Samoan descent. He was the K-1 World Grand Prix 2000 Runner Up, is a six-time Muay Thai World Champion, and was an eigh ...

under kickboxing rules in the main event. In 2013, an entire series of

tournaments kicked off, instantly winning over the

an audience and featuring global martial arts stars, including kickboxing fighters

Mirko Filipović Mirko Filipović (; born 10 September 1974), better known by his ring name Mirko Cro Cop, is a retired Croatian professional mixed martial artist, kickboxer and amateur boxer. He is mostly known for his time in Pride Fighting Championships. Cro C ...

, Pavel Zhuravlev,

Hesdy Gerges Hesdy Gerges (born February 20, 1984) is a Dutch kickboxer and mixed martial artist, fighting out of the Vos Gym in Amsterdam, Netherlands. He held the It's Showtime World Heavyweight title between 2010 and 2012. Gerges has competed in the K-1 ...

and

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on strike (attack), striking, grappling and ground f ...

stars, such as the former

champion

Ricco Rodriguez Ricco Rodriguez (born August 19, 1977) is an American semi-retired mixed martial artist currently competing in the heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 1999, he has competed for the UFC, PRIDE Fighting Championships, EliteXC, I ...

. The FFC (short for “

”) events have been aired live in close to sixty countries of the world.

K-1 WGP Final

On January 24, 2013, it was revealed that the final tournament of the K-1 WGP series would take place in Zagreb, following the Final 16 tournament held in October 2012. It was a major surprise in the world of martial arts as the K-1 WGP Final had never been held outside Japan before. Heads of the K-1 promotion decided to entrust the Fight Channel Group with the production of the event, basing their decision on the outstanding production and organization of the “ Fight Channel Presents: Cro Cop Final Fight” event held in 2012. It was decided that the final event of the prestigious tournament would be officially titled “Fight Channel presents: K-1 WGP Final”. On March 15, 2013, the K-1 WGP Final was held in Arena Zagreb, in front of approximately 15,500 people. Following wins against Jarrell Miller, Pavel Zhuravlev and Ismael Londt in the final match, Mirko Filipović won the valuable title in front his own crowd. Fight Channel’s production and organization was universally praised by the world public. The president and owner of the K-1 promotion company, Mike Kim, stated after the K-1 WGP Final that it was the best day for the K-1 organization since he had taken control of it.

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.fightchannel.hr Mixed martial arts television shows