Negotiations between HDNet and DREAM have ended in a deal to bring live events to the cable network.
As MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com) earlier reported, the Japanese promotion had been in talks to partner with HDNet for the remainder of 2011 and 2012.
Today, HDNet announced that DREAM.17, which takes place Sept. 23 at Saitama Arena in Saitama, Japan, is set to air live on the network.
Additionally, the network is set to air the preliminary card of "Strikeforce Grand Prix: Barnett vs. Kharitonov," which takes place Saturday at Cincinnati's U.S. Bank Arena, as well as Titan Fighting Championship 20 and Legacy Fighting Championship 8.
The DREAM announcement is great news for stateside fans of Japanese MMA. Tape-delayed airings of DREAM's two most recent shows were due to the fact that the promotion, which encountered serious financial difficulties in 2010 and much of 2011, had not yet decided to forge ahead with live events. By the time it did, live programming was no longer an option on the premium cable channel, DREAM's U.S. representative Mike Kogan previously told MMAjunkie.com.
However, HDNet said it's commitment to airing live MMA remains as strong as ever.
"No other network comes close to this kind of live coverage – four events in two weeks," stated HDNet Fights CEO Andrew Simon in a prepared release. "We're definitely proud to bring these fights to our viewers – we'll even circle the globe to do it!"
DREAM.17 features the quarterfinal round of an eight-man world bantamweight grand prix, as well as lightweight champion Shinya Aoki vs. Rob McCullough and Kazuhiro Nakamura vs. Gerald Harris.
The event is the promotion's first to utilize the bout format favored by American promoters. The fights will feature three, five-minute rounds, as opposed to one 10-minute round followed by a second five-minute round.
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