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Super Channel Inks Deal With SHOWTIME® To Air STRIKEFORCE MMA Live Across Canada
First Telecast To Feature Undefeated Superstar CUNG LE In His Long-Awaited Return To The Cage, Saturday, Dec. 19 vs. Scott Smith
EDMONTON (Dec. 2, 2009)—Super Channel, Canada’s only national pay television network, is pleased to announce an exclusive agreement to offer SHOWTIME Sports® telecasts of STRIKEFORCE Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) events live to viewers across Canada, beginning Saturday, Dec.19. On that night, undefeated middleweight (185 pounds) superstar Cung Le (6-0) will take on hard-hitting Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith (16-6) in the main event of a stacked fight card at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.
The live HD telecast of STRIKEFORCE: Le vs. Smith on Super Channel will begin at 10 p.m. ET and will include as many as five bouts.
“Super Channel is striving to offer Canadians programming they can’t get anywhere else and we saw an excellent opportunity in bringing live MMA to viewers from coast-to-coast and knew it would be well received,” said Sandy Perkins, Super Channel’s Vice President Programming. “We are very pleased to add SHOWTIME Sports® and STRIKEFORCE MMA to our roster with an exclusive deal and will be rounding out our Super Channel Fights! lineup. They are a great team to have in our corner.”
“Canadian fans have consistently shown a deep appreciation for MMA, so to have the opportunity to bring live STRIKEFORCE action to this market on a regular basis on an outstanding, high definition platform like Super Channel is very exciting," said STRIKEFORCE Founder and CEO Scott Coker.
Also in action on December 19 will be 2000 Olympic wrestling silver medalist Matt “The Law” Lindland (21-6), who will take on fellow superstar Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza (10-2) at middleweight. Light heavyweight (205 pounds) star Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal (5-0) and middleweight knockout artist “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler (16-5) will each face opponents to be announced.
Le recently made a successful transition to acting and has since been touted as Hollywood’s next great martial arts action film star. In 2009, he played supporting roles in the science fiction thriller Pandorum, co-starring Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster, as well as the action film Fighting, which co-stars Channing Tatum and Terrence Howard. Next year, he will return to the silver screen in the motion picture adaptation of blockbuster video game franchise Tekken.
Le, who last month voluntarily relinquished the STRIKEFORCE middleweight belt he had claimed by dismantling MMA legend Frank Shamrock in 2008, has never lost a fight in his professional fighting career. He‘s perfect in MMA, kickboxing (22-0) and Sanshou (17-0).
About Showtime Networks Inc. Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly owned subsidiary of CBS Corporation, owns and operates the premium television networks SHOWTIME®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL® and FLIX®, as well as the multiplex channels SHOWTIME 2™, SHOWTIME® SHOWCASE, SHOWTIME EXTREME®, SHOWTIME BEYOND®, SHOWTIME NEXT®, SHOWTIME WOMEN®, SHOWTIME FAMILY ZONE® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ XTRA. SNI also offers SHOWTIME HD®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ HD, SHOWTIME ON DEMAND® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ ON DEMAND. SNI also manages Smithsonian Networks, a joint venture between SNI and the Smithsonian Institution. All SNI feeds provide enhanced sound using Dolby Digital 5.1. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME PPV®.
About STRIKEFORCE STRIKEFORCE (www.strikeforce.com) is a world-class mixed martial arts cage fight promotion which, on Friday, March 10, 2006, made history with its “Shamrock vs. Gracie” event, the first sanctioned mixed martial arts fight card in California state history. The star-studded extravaganza, which pitted legendary champion Frank Shamrock against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cesar Gracie at San Jose’s HP Pavilion, played host to a sold-out, record crowd of 18,265. Since 1995, STRIKEFORCE has been the exclusive provider of martial arts programming for ESPN and, after 12 years of success as a leading, world championship kickboxing promotion, the company unveiled its mixed martial arts series with “Shamrock vs. Gracie.” In May 2008, West Coast Productions, the parent company of STRIKEFORCE, partnered with Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment (SVS&E), an entity created in 2000 to oversee all business operation aspects of the San Jose Sharks and HP Pavilion at San Jose.
About Super Channel Super Channel is Canada’s only national pay television network, consisting of two new HD channels, four new SD channels, and Super Channel On Demand.
Super Channel’s vision is to expand the Canadian premium TV experience by offering a broad range of fresh, entertaining movies, series and live events. Super Channel is owned by Allarco Entertainment 2008 Inc., an Edmonton-based media company.
Super Channel is currently available on Bell TV, Shaw Direct, Rogers PersonalTV, Shaw Cable, Cogeco Cable, Access Communications, Bell Aliant TV, Mountain Cablevision, Source Cable, SaskTel, MTS, Novus, EastLink, Delta Cable/Coast Cable, TELUS and other regional providers.
- Press Release from Strikeforce with a little editing from us (color, etc...)
Subject to change
(12/2/09) |
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