HeavyMMA and UFC Launch Fight Day Live

LAS VEGAS – HeavyMMA.com is proud to announce that we have partnered with the UFC to launch Fight Day Live, a new 90-minute pre-fight show that will debut this Saturday prior to UFC 126 at 4:30pm ET/1:30pm PT.

Fight Day Live will serve as the mixed martial arts version of ESPN’s College Gameday show. Before every major North American event, we’ll be coming to you live on location from the fights. Fight Day is hosted by industry stalwart Dave Farra and HeavyMMA’s own Megan Olivi. Dave and Megan will bring you the latest news, fight breakdowns, exclusive interviews and behind-the-scenes looks at some of your favorite UFC fighters.

For the first episode, Dave and Megan will be joined by “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz and “The California Kid” Urijah Faber. They’ll also be joined by an expert panel to break down all the UFC 126 fights: Ariel Helwani from MMAFighting.com and Seth Kelly, the editor of UFC Magazine. In addition, you’ll see Vitor Belfort as he trains for his main event championship bout against Anderson Silva, and Mike Pyle will show you the places you absolutely have to visit when you travel to Las Vegas.

The show will be available here on HeavyMMA.com as well as FoxSports.com, BleacherReport.com, MixedMartialArts.com, LiveStream.com, TheChive.com, Bullz-Eye.com and GlobalGrind.com. MixedMartialArts.com will serve as the mobile provider for the show, and users of The Underground iPhone app will be able to watch the show live on their iPhones. Android users will also be able to view the show.

We’ve been working for months towards this day, and Saturday is going to be a cool event. The Fight Day set will be located directly by the Mandalay Bay arena entrance, and fans will have the opportunity to win cool prizes and interact with the show. If you’re in Las Vegas and are planning to attend the event, come see us at the Fight Day set. We’d love to hang out with you.

The press release for the show is below:

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HEAVYMMA and UFC Launch Fight Day Live!

HeavyMMA to launch live streaming Internet pre-show for UFC® 126: SILVA vs. BELFORT

New York, NY— January 31, 2010: Heavy (heavy.com), the original online men’s brand has announced that HeavyMMA, the company’s Mixed Martial Arts division, will launch a live pre-show for UFC® 126: SILVA vs. BELFORT streamed to the Internet on Saturday, Feb. 5. The pre-show will take place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas just hours before UFC® middleweight champion Anderson Silva defends his crown against number one contender Vitor Belfort.

“HeavyMMA has built a strong following through original programming, a unique editorial voice and real-time news,” Matt Brown, Editor-In-Chief of HeavyMMA, said. “We are elevating our ever-expanding coverage of the UFC with an exciting live format, bringing the fastest growing sport in the world to an even larger audience. At launch, Fight Day will have an audience reach of 37 million unique visitors in North America and I couldn’t be more excited.”

Fight Day will be hosted by industry stalwart Dave Farra and HeavyMMA newcomer Megan Olivi. The show will include wide ranging interviews, analysis and industry coverage. Fight Day will be streamed online through a technology partnership with Live Stream, and will be available on the mobile web through Mixed Martial Arts’ MMA Underground App available at www.mixedmartialarts.com.

Fight Day will be shown live on Saturday February 5th at 4:30 p.m. ET/ 1:30 p.m. PT on heavy.com, www.foxsports.com, www.mixedmartialarts.com, www.livestream.com, www.bleacherreport.com, www.bullz-eye.com, www.globalgrind.com and www.theCHIVE.com .

UFC® 126: SILVA vs. BELFORT, which is presented by Bud Light, will be available live on Pay-Per-View on Feb. 5 at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on iN DEMAND, DirecTV, DISH Network, Avail-TVN, BellTV, Shaw Communications, Sasktel, and Viewer’s Choice Canada for a suggested retail price of $44.99 US/$49.99 CAN for Standard Definition and $54.99 US/$59.99 CAN for High Definition. UFC 126 will also be available on Pay-Per-View in Spanish in the United States.

Heavy and HeavyMMA
Established in 1999, Heavy is the original premium digital men’s entertainment company. Heavy owns and operates Heavy.com, HeavyMMA and the Heavy Media Network (HMN), reaching more than 50MM* unique visitors worldwide. Highly targeted towards men 18 – 34, Heavy creates and syndicates original programming, aggregated premium content and custom marketing programs for Fortune 500 Brand Advertisers. Heavy is established internationally with markets in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States.

HeavyMMA is an industry leading editorial and programming group within Heavy with a focus on the sport of Mixed Martial Arts (“MMA”). Led by Matt Brown, HeavyMMA was established in 2009 and has quickly built a strong following among hardcore and casual fans alike with a mix of original lifestyle entertainment programming and in-depth news coverage, with a high level of journalistic integrity.

*ComScore/Media Metrix, December 2010

Ultimate Fighting Championship® – www.ufc.com
Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, and headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., UFC® produces over 12 UFC live Pay-Per-View events annually and 30 live arena events around the world. UFC programming is distributed in the United States on Viacom, Inc.’s Spike TV and on Comcast, Inc.’s VERSUS network. UFC content is distributed commercially through Joe Hand Promotions in the U.S. and Canadastar in Canada. Globally, UFC programming is broadcast in over 145 countries and territories, reaching 354 million homes worldwide, in 19 different languages. Ancillary businesses now include UFC.com with over 5 million unique visitors per month, the best-selling UFC “Undisputed” videogame franchise distributed by THQ, UFC Gym™, UFC Fight Club affinity program, UFC Fan Expo™ festivals, branded apparel, trading cards, articulated action figures and other media including best-selling DVDs and a U.S. bimonthly magazine.

Ultimate Fighting Championship®, Ultimate Fighting®, UFC®, The Ultimate Fighter®, Submission®, As Real As It Gets®, Zuffa®, The Octagon™ and the eight-sided competition mat and cage design are registered trademarks, registered service marks, trademarks, trade dress and/or service marks owned exclusively by Zuffa, LLC and licensed to its affiliated entities and other licensees in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other marks referenced herein may be the property of Zuffa, LLC, its affiliates or other respective owners.

About Livestream
Livestream’s mission is to build a next-generation live cable operator: one that is global, social, user friendly, reaches all devices and is accessible to anyone interested in broadcasting an interactive live video experience – for free. Event organizers, content owners, celebrities and artists around the world use Livestream’s social broadcasting tools to engage and grow their audiences on the web, mobile devices, and connected TVs. More than one billion video minutes are streamed each month to a growing community of 20 million monthly viewers. Notable content partners include Facebook, The New York Times, ABC News, CBS News, and the Associated Press. Livestream offers a unique commitment to protecting the rights of its producers through a ‘Zero Tolerance on Piracy’ policy.

About Mixed Martial Arts LLC
Mixed Martial Arts LLC owns and operates mixedmartialarts.com, an industry-leading online destination for mixed martial arts content including news, training videos and event listings since 1998, and is the home of the famous Underground Forum frequented by high profile athletes and personalities.

Mixed Martial Arts LLC is also commissioned by the Association of Boxing Commissions to operate the only official, and world’s largest database, of event and fighter information for both professional and amateur mixed martial arts.

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Press Contacts:

Matt Brown
Editor-In-Chief, HeavyMMA
press@heavy.com