Bruno Roberto de Asis of Brazil is seen in this undated handout photo courtesy of Karate Combat. Karate Combat/Handout via REUTERS
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Karate Combat, a league devoted to showcasing the ancient martial art, has signed a deal with beIN Sports to show its second season across five continents including North America, it said on Tuesday.
The full-contact league, which uses outlandish CGI effects to transport viewers to locations ranging from ancient temples to Mad Max-like dystopias, will premier its 12-episode season in the United States and Canada on Sept. 24.
It will premier in the Middle East & North Africa, Turkey, and 10 countries in Asia-Pacific on Sept. 26.
The company said it will focus on telling the stories of its diverse range of fighters, men and women from more than 40 countries that include a Louisiana preacher, a German Buddhist monk, a special forces veteran and a ballerina.
“We’re making karate cool again. It was cool for a long time, but somehow lost its swagger,” the league’s new president Adam Kovacs, a point karate champion, told Reuters.
“Fans want knockouts, fighters want knockouts,” he said.
“But we also want to see athletes meet their full potential, make a living, and show the deeper traits of the martial art that they live by every day.”
Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Toby Davis