Univision Lands Significant Stake In Combate Global

Univision Communications today announced that it has acquired a significant equity stake in Combate Global’s Hispanic Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) sports franchise. The agreement goes into effect immediately.
The companies said the transaction “formally aligns Combate Global’s talent and deep connection to the MMA community with Univision’s promotional and production capabilities, positioning the fight organization for international expansion.”

The announcement comes on the heels of the companies’ recent five-year media rights deal that features 30 live television events airing annually — a total of 150 events — many of which will take place live from Univision’s studios in Miami.

Combate Global CEO Campbell McLaren said: “Since teaming up in 2018, Univision and Combate Global have created an entirely new audience for MMA. Today, those content hungry fans, combined with our dynamic athletes, represent the future of the sport. This announcement underscores Univision’s commitment to Hispanic MMA and we could not be more excited to further strengthen our successful partnership with them.”

“This investment marks the first step in Univision’s broader strategy to deliver more exciting, live combat sports to our audience,” said Juan Carlos Rodriguez, president of Sports Enterprises, Univision. “Combat sports rank as the second most popular sport among Hispanics. We’re excited to take our successful partnership to the next level as we collaborate with the Combate team to elevate the brand and bring compelling mixed martial arts content across the Univision platforms for years to come.”

Combate Global programming began airing live on Univision in 2018, when the company was known as Combate Americas.