Combat sports-Karate Combat signs distribution deal

Karate Combat, a league devoted to showcasing the ancient martial art, has signed a deal with beIN Sports to show its second season across five continents including North America, it said on Tuesday. The full-contact league, which uses outlandish CGI effects to transport viewers to locations ranging from ancient temples to Mad Max-like dystopias, will premier its 12-episode season in the United States and Canada on Sept.

Karate Combat, a league devoted to showcasing the ancient martial art, has signed a deal with beIN Sports to show its second season across five continents including North America, it said on Tuesday.

The full-contact league, which uses outlandish CGI effects to transport viewers to locations ranging from ancient temples to Mad Max-like dystopias, will premier its 12-episode season in the United States and Canada on Sept. 24. It will premier in the Middle East & North Africa, Turkey, and 10 countries in Asia-Pacific on Sept. 26.

The company said it will focus on telling the stories of its diverse range of fighters, men and women from more than 40 countries that include a Louisiana preacher, a German Buddhist monk, a special forces veteran and a ballerina. "We're making karate cool again. It was cool for a long time, but somehow lost its swagger," the league's new president Adam Kovacs, a point karate champion, told Reuters.

"Fans want knockouts, fighters want knockouts," he said. "But we also want to see athletes meet their full potential, make a living, and show the deeper traits of the martial art that they live by every day."