NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Alliance MMA, Inc. ("Alliance MMA" or the "Company") (NASDAQ:AMMA), the only publicly-traded professional mixed martial arts (“MMA”) company that unifies elite regional promotions and aspiring MMA champions, announced today that three SuckerPunch Entertainment (“SuckerPunch”) athletes will compete on live national television Saturday night, January 20th.
Douglas “The Phenom” Lima will be defending his Bellator Welterweight World Championship title against #3 ranked Rory MacDonald at Bellator 192 live on the Paramount Network. Bellator is owned by entertainment giant Viacom (NASDAQ: VIAB), one of the world's premier entertainment brands that connect with audiences through compelling content across television, motion picture, online and mobile platforms.
On the same night a pair of Sucker Punch athletes will compete on the Ultimate Fighting Championship (“UFC”) 220 preliminary card which will air on the Fox Sports 1 (“FS1”) network. Dan “Danimal” Ige will be making his UFC debut after a victorious submission victory on the “Dana White Tuesday Night Contender Series.” Also competing on the FS1 portion of the UFC fight card is welterweight Sabah “The Problem” Homasi.
Top Fighter Prospects Added to SuckerPunch Roster
SuckerPunch Entertainment continues its quest to add top prospects to their already impressive stable of more than 150 top athletes under management. Bebit Nazarov, a lightweight fighter featuring an impressive 15-2 record, was recently added to the SuckerPunch roster. With bloodlines to current UFC superstars, a pair of promising bantamweights, Keith Lee and Elias Garcia, were also recently signed to management contracts by SuckerPunch. Lee is the younger brother of #7 ranked UFC lightweight Kevin Lee, while Garcia is cousins with both former UFC Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis, as well as his brother Sergio Pettis who is currently the #5 ranked UFC Flyweight.
“Adding these three promising fighters to our rapidly expanding roster, under multi-year management contracts, is representative of the aggressive expansion strategy SuckerPunch intends to execute throughout 2018,” said Bryan Hamper, President of SuckerPunch Entertainment. “The close enterprise connection between SuckerPunch and Alliance MMA is the key to our ability to identify quality prospects early on, and then work diligently going forward to ensure they have the opportunity to compete at the highest level, including the UFC and Bellator.“
Alliance Continues to Establish a Nationwide Presence
Besides SuckerPunch Entertainment, and CageTix, the Company’s electronic ticketing platform, Alliance MMA currently operates in 13 of the top 30 Nielsen Designated Market Areas (DMA), including each of the top five. With the goal of unifying elite regional promotions and fostering the development of aspiring MMA champions, the Company produces professional MMA events through New Jersey-based Cage Fury Fighting Championship, Washington-based Combat Games MMA, Indiana-based Hoosier Fight Club, Tennessee-based V3Fights, Maryland-based Shogun Fights, Ohio-based Iron Tiger Fight Series, Florida-based Fight Time Promotions, Georgia-based National Fighting Championship, Southern California-based SoCa Fights, and Nebraska-based Victory Fighting Championship.
About Alliance MMA, Inc.
Alliance MMA (NASDAQ: AMMA) is a professional mixed martial arts (MMA) company that brings together the best regional productions. Alliance MMA's mission is to identify and cultivate the next generation of fighters and champions for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and other premier MMA promotions.
With some of the world’s leading MMA promotions under the Alliance MMA umbrella, the organization aims eventually to host in excess of 125 events per year, showcasing more than 1,000 fighters. Alliance MMA is also dedicated to generating live original sports media content, attracting an international fan base, and securing major brand sponsorship revenue for live MMA events, digital media, and Alliance MMA fighters.
MMA is the world’s fastest-growing sport with worldwide fans of approximately 300 million according to sports marketing research firm Repucom. MMA is a full contact sport that allows a wide range of fighting techniques, including striking and grappling from various martial arts and disciplines including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu jitsu, karate, and Muay Thai. Professional MMA fights are legal and regulated by state athletic commissions in all 50 states.
Alliance MMA, Inc. was formed in 2015 for the purpose of acquiring businesses that engage in the promotion of MMA events. In 2016, the company completed an initial public offering that culminated in a listing on the NASDAQ stock exchange. Alliance MMA is the only MMA promotion company that is publicly-traded.
For more information, visit www.alliancemma.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These statements relate to anticipated future events, future results of operations or future financial performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “might,” “will,” “should,” “intends,” “expects,” “plans,” “goals,” “projects,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential,” or “continue” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Actual results may differ materially from historical results or those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors including, but not limited to, those discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 17, 2017. Alliance MMA encourages you to review other factors that may affect its future results in its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180119005191/en/
