Oktagon MMA lands on Channel 4

Channel 4 has agreed a broadcast partnership with Oktagon MMA. 

All live events and shoulder programming from the European MMA competition will be available to watch through the Channel 4 streaming platform and Channel 4 Sport YouTube channel.

This comes as Oktagon will put on its first UK event on 4 November, with Manchester’s AO Arena to host Oktagon 48.

The first programming to come out of the partnership will be new reality TV series Stage To The Cage, featuring reality TV star Jake Quickenden and comedian Paul Smith, which launches with the first three episodes on Tuesday, 5 September, as well as ‘Oktagon Challenge: England vs. Ireland’ later in the month.

The first live event will be Oktagon 46 on 16 September, which features the semi-finals of the €1 million (£860k) Tipsport Gamechanger welterweight tournament at the Festhalle Frankfurt in Germany.

Channel 4 had previously moved into MMA with the PFL, but that has since moved to DAZN with highlights on ITV.

Pavol Neruda, co-founder of Oktagon MMA, gave a lengthy explanation of the organisation’s plans for its content and general UK strategy: “We are very proud to sign a deal with Channel 4 and we’re very happy to close a deal with such a big broadcaster. They believe in us, they want to do this with us, and they like the Oktagon MMA product.

“The game changer in this deal was Stage to the Cage, a reality show starring Jake Quickenden and comedian Paul Smith. Channel 4 thought it was a clever idea to put these two guys together in the cage. We’ve seen celebrity boxing fights, but this is something different. They are training for one year and having to completely change their lives.

“MMA fans can expect to see the first episode of Stage to the Cage in August. Then after that Oktagon Challenge - a reality show that will see England and Irish talent battle it out in and outside the cage - followed by our first tournament live from Frankfurt in September. This will be a first for Channel 4 and we’ll be expecting big numbers. This is the first schedule but with more content to follow. Next year we are planning four more fight nights in the UK and also in Ireland. We are looking for the right arena in Ireland because Irish fans are amazing.”

He continued: “It’s a must now to find and recognise the best young talent in the UK and Ireland and sign them. There’s so much talent right now here right now, the scene is so much different than four years back. We will make them famous in the UK first, but also Germany, Czech Republic and Slovakia thanks to our broadcast partners. Most other promotions are buying big name fighters, but they just come, fight, and leave. This is not our strategy, we want to showcase local stars like Shem Rock and Akonne Wanlisse, so fans can stay with them and watch them progress towards the title. We said no to big name-attractive options and instead we are taking the maybe harder route. But it’s better for fans, fighters, and our brand, and there’s a good reason for it.

“Let’s say you bring in a Darren Till or Anderson Silva - they’re big names and we all like these fighters - but you know they’re not chasing titles. We want hungry fighters  - so you really feel it when they say they’re going after the title - you believe in them. That’s when it’s interesting. It’s more believable than just buying instant fame. It’s like buying followers on Instagram. It’s empty. We want the stories and the hungry fighters following their dreams, and as fans we will witness their run towards titles. The fans will have a deeper connection this way with us and the fighters.”

“Fight fans can look forward to a lot of fun, entertainment, great fights, very good stories and reality TV shows. That’s what makes us different. We believe nobody is doing this in the UK on this scale, and with these shows we will hit a different audience, not just the MMA enthusiast. The UK and Ireland MMA fans are lonely - but we will reach their friends and relatives and attract a lot of new fans, so MMA fans will have a bigger community to share their passion with. This will change the dynamics; how people are watching MMA, how they talk about the sport at the bar - suddenly MMA will become a topic for way more people. We want to be the home of MMA in the UK.”