26 June 2017

UKTV has signed a two-part deal with mixed martial arts promoter, BAMMA, for two live contests on its entertainment channel, Dave.

The first, Live: BAMMA World Title Fight, is set to take place at BAMMA 30 at Dublin's 3Arena, on 7 July. The second will be at The SSE Arena, Wembley, on 15 September.
  BAMMA 30 will be headlined by the Bantamweight World Title Fight between Northern Ireland's Alan "The Apprentice" Philpott Vs England's Shay Walsh. These two have been on a collision course for a long time and it's now coming to a head at BAMMA 30. Dave's live coverage of the evening's events in Dublin starts at 9pm.

All the action across the evening will be led by seasoned MMA presenter Andy Shepherd alongside main pundit, former WBA Heavyweight Champion David Haye and ex UFC fighter Paddy "The Hooligan" Holohan. Each clash will be made up of three, 5-minute rounds with 60" breaks between.

Live: BAMMA World Title Fight is ordered by director of commissioning Richard Watsham and Dave general manager Steve North.  Executive producers are Joe McVey for UKTV and David Green for BAMMA. The announcement further extends Dave's live sport coverage following Live MMA in Birmingham in May, plus live boxing, cricket and darts events.

Dave general manager Steve North, said,

After the success of our first live MMA World Title fight in Birmingham, which proved very popular with 16-34s, it's excellent news for our viewers that we're able to extend our partnership with BAMMA. We're able to dedicate significant airtime to the two events which is brilliant news for fans.

David Green, BAMMA CEO said,

It was fantastic to hold our first MMA event in partnership with Dave at BAMMA 29 in Birmingham. Great fights, an electric atmosphere and a superb TV platform for BAMMA fans to enjoy the show. We are now excited to look ahead to huge events at the 3Arena in Dublin and The SSE Arena, Wembley. I have no doubt that these iconic venues will deliver some of the most memorable MMA events of the year.

Live: BAMMA World Title Fight, Friday 7 July, 9pm on Dave.

https://dave.uktv.co.uk/shows/live-mma-world-title-fight/

About Dave

Sky 111/246, Virgin 128/194, Freeview 12, BT & TalkTalk 12 and on demand on Sky, Virgin and UKTV Play

Dave's had a haircut and shave in recent years as it grows from awkward teenager to fully-fledged commissioner of new and original shows. And it's not just comedy these days but entertainment and even some knock-out live sport.  Hit UKTV Original commissions include Taskmaster, Dave Gorman Modern Life is Goodish, Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled, Dara O Briain's Go 8 Bit and Crackanory, all laden with the biggest names in British comedy. Dave enjoyed critical success with two series of Hoff the Record, a mockumentary ensemble comedy led by the living legend David Hasselhoff.

As well as home-grown delights Dave also goes stateside, cherry-picking cult US Shows including the sharp-witted and sharp-suited Suits and much-loved Parks and Recreation along with Emmy-nominated The Last Man on Earth. This all contributed to Dave's award win at the 2016 Broadcast Digital Awards for Best Entertainment Channel.

Dave is the UK's most watched non-PSB channel broadcasting to over 27 million people per month, and viewers continue to enjoy the ludicrously addictive American Pickers and UK remake of Storage Hunters. The channel continues to grow its original commissioning slate with political show Unspun With Matt Forde, Red Dwarf XI, fantasy comedy Zapped! and Celebrity Storage Hunters.

About UKTV

UKTV is a commercial broadcaster reaching over 41m viewers every month.

The award-winning independent has eleven imaginative brands - UKTV Play, Dave, W, Gold, Alibi, Yesterday, Drama, Really, Home, Eden and Good Food. These include the two most popular non-PSB channels in the UK and account for nearly 10% of the British commercial TV market. The company's most recent financial results showed record-breaking year-end revenue of £344.8m and EBITDA of £91.3m. It invested £151.2m in programming and related launches last year, and is a significant investor in British creativity.   The network embraces technology to deliver inspired channels to audiences through Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media, BT, TalkTalk, YouView, Freesat, Amazon Fire and UKTV Play, and distributes its highly valued original programmes to 200 territories.   Now celebrating over 20 years at the forefront of digital television, UKTV - an independent commercial joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. (SNI) - is proud to be the first British television broadcaster in The Sunday Times top 100 companies list.
corporate.uktv.co.uk / press.uktv.co.uk / @uktv_press

About BAMMA

BAMMA, Europe's Leading Mixed Martial Arts Entertainment Brand, is the home for elite fighters from around the world. Launched in 2009 and drawing unrivalled domestic viewing figures, the UK based promotion continues to showcase the most exciting and entertaining fights, between the toughest and most skilled competitors the sport has to offer.

BAMMA is brought to you in association with official broadcast partners, DAVE. BAMMA is presented in partnership with Safe MMA and the Independent British Medical Organisation.