HDNet Fights was a US based television outlet for various MMA and combat sports promotions. Its broadcast lineup included

DREAM A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensation (psychology), sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around ...

, Sengoku,

K-1 K-1 is a professional kickboxing promotion established in 1993 by karateka Kazuyoshi Ishii. Originally under the ownership of the Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG), K-1 was considered to be the largest Kickboxing organization in the worl ...

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Adrenaline MMA Adrenaline MMA was a mixed martial arts organization that operated primarily in North America. It was formerly part of M-1 Global but became independent in October 2007 with Monte Cox as its head. History Foundation In October 2007, Sibling E ...

, M-1 Global,

Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011; the promotion was subs ...

, Maximum Fighting Championship, Affliction Entertainment, Urban Conflict Championship,

BAMMA BAMMA (British Association of Mixed Martial Arts) was a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United Kingdom. It premiered on June 27, 2009, and was shown on the television channel Bravo. BAMMA events were shown live on ITV4 in the UK and I ...

, XFC, Superior Challenge, CFA, Titan Fighting Championships and the now defunct IFL among others. As of February 19, 2010, it has promoted two events of its own and broadcast 60 events by other promotions. After July 2, 2012, when HDNet re-branded itself as AXS TV, HDNet Fights was re-branded as AXS TV Fights.

History

HDNet Fights was founded in 2007 by

HDNet AXS TV () is an American specialty television, cable television channel majority-owned by Canadian broadcaster Anthem Sports & Entertainment. It is devoted primarily to Music television, music-related programming (such as concert films, Document ...

owner and founder, billionaire entrepreneur

Mark Cuban Mark Cuban (born July 31, 1958) is an American businessman and television personality. He is the former principal owner and current minority owner of the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and co-owner of 2929 Entertain ...

, as a staple of programming upon which to base the new network. Cuban has since expressed a desire to present MMA in a manner more in line with other professional sports, saying that he would eliminate ancillary details such as ring card girls. Despite speculation of how personally Cuban himself would be involved in the business and promoting of MMA, he has proven to be a vocal defender of MMA in his blogs and interviews since starting the promotion. HDNet Fights briefly promoted its own fights. The first was hosted on October 13, 2007, with the main event being a light-heavyweight contest between Erik Paulson and Jeff Ford. Its second event, ''Reckless Abandon'', was held two months later.

Inside MMA

In company with the announcement of the new promotion, HDNet also began broadcasting its MMA-focused sports program called Inside MMA. Its first broadcast aired on September 14, 2007, and guests were former UFC light heavyweight champion

Chuck Liddell Charles David Liddell (born December 17, 1969) is an American former professional Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 1998 to 2018, Liddell is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion (from 2005 to 2007) and i ...

and well known MMA fan and actor

Kevin James Kevin George Knipfing (born April 26, 1965), known professionally as Kevin James, is an American comedian and actor. He began his career by performing stand-up comedy at clubs on Long Island in the 1980s. He rose to prominence for his portrayal ...

. The show is hosted by Kenny Rice and Bas Rutten. Broadcasts and segments from the show can also be found on HDNet's

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

subscription, Sherdog.com, and the HDNet Fights website.

Partnership with Dream and World Victory Road

HDNet acquired the rights to air Japanese Fighting and Entertainment Group's MMA promotion

Dream A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensation (psychology), sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around ...

and aired it for the first time in the United States with a repeat of Dream 1 on May 2, 2008. A repeat of Dream 2 was aired the following day, while Dream 3 was aired live on May 11. HDNet is scheduled to air all future Dream events. On February 6, 2009, HDNet also announced they had reached and agreement with another Japanese MMA promotion and competitor to Dream, World Victory Road, to broadcast its "Sengoku"-events in the United States starting with WVR's first event of 2009 on March 20.

References

External links

Official HDNet Fights SiteInside MMA webcasts
{{Sports television in the United States , state=autocollapse 2007 American television series debuts 2012 American television series endings Mixed martial arts organizations HDNet original programming