Spike TV adds GLORY kickboxing to its combat sports programming lineup

Spike TV, which has been in the MMA business since 2005, now will add kickboxing to its arsenal.

The cable channel on Thursday announced a deal with kickboxing promotion GLORY Sports International to air events on select Saturday nights starting this fall.

The multiyear deal will see the network broadcast two-hour primetime events, Spike and GLORY said.

GLORY got its start in 2006 in Holland as Ultimate Glory. But in its current incarnation, the promotion began staging events in mid-2012. This past Saturday, GLORY 9 took place in New York with Tyrone Spong winning the one-night, eight-man light heavyweight tournament with a unanimous decision and a pair of quick knockouts.

Other notable kickboxers in GLORY’s stable include Gokhan Saki, Daniel Ghita, Peter Aerts and Remy Bonjasky.

GLORY has held 11 events so far in 2013 – five numbered events and six tournament cards. Six of those shows have taken place in the United States, but GLORY also has been to Tokyo, London, Istanbaul and Milan so far this year.

Spike TV started broadcasting MMA in 2005 with the UFC’s reality series, “The Ultimate Fighter.” Live events followed, as did much ancillary and library programming. “TUF” ran on Spike TV for 14 seasons before the UFC moved to the FOX networks.

Starting in 2013, Spike TV began airing Bellator MMA events. Bellator’s first season on the channel this past spring earned the promotion’s highest ratings yet after seven seasons on several other cable platforms. Spike TV currently is airing Bellator’s first reality series, “Fight Master,” on Wednesday nights. Season 9 starts for Bellator in September.

“We are thrilled to partner with GSI in bringing Spike TV’s audience the incredible action and intensity of GLORY’s fight league, which features the best kickboxers in the world,” stated Jon Slusser, Spike TV’s senior vice president for sports and multiplatform programming. “Viewers will quickly see this as the perfect complement to our coverage of Bellator, the world’s leading tournament-based MMA promotion.”

“Spike has established itself as the home of combat sports in a way that is unique,” stated Andrew Whitaker, GLORY’s CEO. “Its audience will expect the most exciting ring action, and we promise to deliver it. GLORY kickboxing is the next big thing, and Spike clearly knows something about spotting aces in the sports programming space.”

No first event date has been announced. Spike TV, owned by Viacom Media Networks, is broadcast to nearly 100 million homes.

(Pictured: Tyrone Spong)