"It's Showtime" is a defunct kickboxing and

mixed martial arts 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 striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

promotion based in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. It was founded by Simon Rutz in 1998 and held its first show in 1999 and its last near the end of 2012.

History

It's Showtime events were cross-promoted with K-1 and other European promotions from

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. In December 2007, the first season of ''It’s Showtime Reality Show'' was broadcast on Eurosport, featuring 19 fighters from all over the world. K-1 partnership continued until K-1's deepening financial problems and Simon Rutz claimed in January 2011 that some fighters from It's Showtime had not been paid for fights in K-1. In March 2012, It's Showtime announced that EMCOM Entertainment established the new company K-1 Global Holdings Ltd. in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

. EMCOM/K-1 Global's agreement with It's Showtime made many fighters under It's Showtime promotion sign contracts to appear in upcoming K-1 Global events. However, it was announced in June 2012 that It's Showtime was purchased by Glory Sports International, eventually to be merged in their new promotion GLORY.

Broadcast

It's Showtime events were usually broadcast live on

Setanta Sports Setanta Sports is a sports television company based in Dublin, Ireland broadcasting throughout select Eurasian. The company was formed in 1990 to facilitate the broadcasting of Irish sporting events to international audiences. The company previo ...

, JSports,

TV Esporte Interativo TNT Sports is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery in Brazil responsible for sports broadcasts on TNT and Space channels in the country. Esporte Interativo started as a television channel, inaugurated on January 20, 2007 with the live broadca ...

and many others and aired on

The Fight Network 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 wre ...

in Canada. Showtime had also signed a deal with

AXS TV AXS TV is an American cable television channel. Majority-owned by Anthem Sports & Entertainment, it is devoted primarily to music-related programming (such as concert films, documentaries, and reality series involving musicians) and combat spor ...

(formerly known as HDNet) to air shows.

Rules

Kickboxing fights were conducted under K-1 rules 3 X 3 rounds and title fights 5 X 3. It's Showtime had eight different weight classes MAX 61 kg, MAX 65 kg, MAX 69 kg, MAX 73 kg, MAX 77 kg, MAX 85 kg, MAX 95 kg and Heavyweight

References

External links

It's Showtime Official site
{{MMA organizations 1998 establishments in the Netherlands 2012 disestablishments in the Netherlands Kickboxing organizations Mixed martial arts organizations Mixed martial arts in the Netherlands

History

Broadcast

Rules

See also

References

External links