ESPN Talks Of Venturing Into MMA

Reports surfaced last week that ESPN, who began covering UFC heavily a little over one year ago, would be making an attempt to get into Mixed Martial Arts.

The MMA industry jumped the guy and ESPN started receiving "more than average" requests from promoters begging to be put on the air before details even surfaced.

Although MMA is in the plan, the premise of the program will be a Contenders type show for ESPN Deportes (their Spanish speaking sister network).  Talks of an elimination reality show or even a live tournament on the network became evident with a tentative date of April 2009 as a starting point.

The current plan is to sign fighters in three possible weigh divisions (rumored to be lightweight, welterweight and middleweight) who can speak English and Spanish or are of Spanish descent.

Preliminary reports suggest that the program would be called Bellator Fighting Championships (Bellator meaning "Warrior") and could eventually lead to a potential show for ESPN's regular programming schedule.