UFC® ANNOUNCES DAVID ALLEN AS SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER OF EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
LONDON – The UFC®
today announced the appointment of David Allen as its Senior Vice
President and General Manager of Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
Allen first joined
the UFC in December of 2013 as Director of Events, Marketing and
Communications for EMEA. Throughout his 13 months with the organization,
Allen has helped grow and develop the organization’s
London office, and provided valuable leadership during a busy year for
the region highlighted by sold out shows in London and Dublin in 2014.
Dublin born Allen
kicked off his sports career with sportswear manufacturer Adidas in
1994. In 1998, he made the move to Nike where he held sales positions in
the UK and EMEA business ahead of his promotion
to General Manager of Nike Football EMEA in 2006. In this role, Allen
led the team to over $1 Billion in sales and the market leader position
in the critical markets of UK, Italy, France and Spain.
In 2010, Allen took
on a new challenge within the Nike family and accepted the role of
General Manager EMEA and USA for the UMBRO brand. He was responsible for
creating the vision of the UMBRO brand, growing
revenues, developing and delivering turnaround strategies to key
markets.
In his new role,
Allen will continue to be based in the London office overseeing the
UFC’s business in the EMEA region and report to UFC Chief Global Brand
Officer Garry Cook.
On the appointment,
Cook said: “I have had the privilege of working with David over many
years and his dedication, determination and drive will add great value.
The UFC looks forward to the further growth
of the brand in EMEA under David’s tutelage, as the organization
targets new markets, partnerships and opportunities, including it’s
largest European event to date in Stockholm next week.”
David Allen added: “"I
am grateful for the confidence the company has placed in me and I look
forward to working with a great team, both here in EMEA and in our Las
Vegas office, as we work together
to grow the UFC business across the region.”
REEBOK PARTNERS WITH ONE OF THE MOST INSPIRING ATHLETES IN THE UFC®
FEATHERWEIGHT CONTENDER CONOR MCGREGOR
Continuing to empower fitness enthusiasts around the world through its tough fitness approach,
Reebok announces today its partnership with UFC featherweight contender,
Conor McGregor. The signing follows the recent announcement of Reebok’s groundbreaking partnership with the
UFC, the world’s leading mixed martial arts organization, and
builds upon the global fitness brand’s impressive roster of UFC athletes
which includes UFC women’s bantamweight champion
Ronda Rousey, UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, UFC lightweight champion
Anthony Pettis, and former UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks amongst others.
Proving his potential truly is limitless, in two years Conor McGregor
went from young up-and-comer to one of the most exciting athletes in
the sport of MMA. “Conor's hard work, determination and confidence have
gotten him to where he
is today,” said Reebok Brand President Matt O'Toole. “His passion and his commitment to continual self-improvement are a true reflection of the Reebok brand.”
According to UFC President Dana White, “Conor is without a doubt one of the most exciting fighters we have ever had in the UFC.”
Born in Dublin, Ireland, twenty –six year old
McGregor represents Reebok’s first UFC athlete that originates from and
trains in Europe. Officially ranked no.5 in the UFC featherweight
division, McGregor is steadily growing in popularity
as he rides a 12-fight win streak and builds on his impressive 16-2
record. McGregor continues his journey to the division title this Sunday at UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs. Siver in Boston, Mass., where he will wear his first-ever “Reebok Walkout T-Shirt”
when he takes on 10th-ranked Dennis Siver.
McGregor will play an important role in launching
Reebok’s new collection of footwear and apparel specifically created for
the 35 million people around the world who train like fighters. “I
believe my potential in the Octagon is limitless,
but it all comes down to the training you put in pre-fight,” said
McGregor. “With a top fitness brand like Reebok behind me, there’s no
telling what I can do in the Octagon.”
“In addition to being one of the fastest growing
sports in the world, MMA is also one of the most demanding in terms of
conditioning and fitness. Reebok believes that by pushing ourselves to
the brink and testing our limitations, we have
the power to transform ourselves not only physically but also mentally
and socially,” said O’Toole.
For further information and assets please visit the Reebok News Stream at news.reebok.com
For further information on UFC please visit www.ufc.com
iN DEMAND RENEWS AGREEMENT
FOR DISTRIBUTION OF UFC® EVENTS TO CABLE AND TELCO PROVIDERS
New Deal includes Expansion of Rights
New York- On the heels of UFC® 182, one of the biggest UFC PPV events ever,
iN DEMAND, the leading distributor of transactional entertainment to cable and telcos, and
Zuffa LLC, the owner of
UFC®, the world’s leading mixed martial arts sports
organization, have announced a multi-year renewal of their agreement to
deliver UFC Pay-Per-View (PPV) events to more than 50 million digital
subscribers throughout the United States. The
announcement was made today by Marshall Zelaznik, UFC Chief Content Officer, and
Michael Berman, iN DEMAND’s EVP, Programming and General Counsel.
This deal ensures that UFC’s biggest and most important events will
continue to be available via PPV, and includes expanded rights such as
the ability of iN DEMAND affiliates to offer
EST (ownership via Electronic Sell-Through) and sales of the PPV events
to commercial establishments. Plus, affiliates can offer the UFC’s
digital streaming service UFC FIGHT PASS® to video subscribers on a fully authenticated basis.
This new
agreement provides for the continuation of a long collaboration between
the two companies, which has helped the UFC grow to be one of the most
powerful entities in the PPV and sports
marketplace.
iN DEMAND
will deliver every UFC PPV event and purchasers will enjoy longer
viewership windows via VOD and TV Everywhere convenience. All events are
offered in both Standard and High Definition,
as well as a separate Spanish language feed.*
According
to iN DEMAND’s Berman, “We have been proud to be a part of UFC’s growth
from their launch on PPV to their current status as the gold-standard
for Mixed Martial Arts, worldwide. This
new deal ensures that we will continue our long-term relationship by
not only distributing their core PPV events, but we will also be an
intrinsic part of their next generation of growth through subscription
and digital ownership of the UFC’s compelling content.”
UFC’s
Zelaznik said: “It is great to continue our rewarding and long-lasting
relationship with iN DEMAND. The ability of UFC to deliver our best and
most meaningful fights and events to so many
fans in the years to come is great news for our sport, our brand and
our partners. This partnership will allow us to continue to be the
world’s leading PPV content provider.”
For upcoming schedules, go to:
http://www.indemand.com/whats-
*HD not available in all systems.
UFC FIGHT PASS®
TO GREATLY EXPAND FIGHT PASS LIBRARY IN 2015
UFC’S DIGITAL STREAMING SERVICE HAS ACQUIRED THE RIGHTS TO EIGHT SIGNIFICANT FIGHT LIBRARIES
Las Vegas, Nevada
– The world’s largest mixed martial arts fight library is going to get a whole lot bigger in 2015.
UFC FIGHT
PASS, the UFC’s digital streaming service, has obtained the rights to
the fight archives of Cage Rage, Extreme Challenge MMA, the XFO, UCMMA,
Hook N Shoot, TKO, King of the Cage and the
Pancrase organizations.
The UFC FIGHT PASS library extension was announced earlier today in Las Vegas.
UFC’s Chief
Content Officer Marshall Zelaznik said: “When we launched UFC FIGHT PASS
one year ago, we said that it would keep getting better and better and
would offer fight fans unrivaled value
for money. We believe we’ve delivered on that promise yet again with
this exciting announcement that these major fight libraries will be
coming to FIGHT PASS.”
The new libraries will join those of the WEC, Strikeforce, WFA, PRIDE FC, EliteXC, Affliction, Invicta FC and of course UFC on
UFCFIGHTPASS.com.
Zelaznik said
fans will begin to see selected content from these new libraries added
to the FIGHT PASS service in the spring, with content uploaded
throughout 2015.
He said:
“When we are finally done ingesting all these new libraries, we expect
to be offering our members access to over 13,000 fights from all over
the world and across and the entire history
of our sport. That’s an astonishing 6,500 hours of archived fights on
top of all the interviews, documentaries, original programming and live
fights we have on UFC FIGHT PASS.”
The new fight archives will include:
·
Cage Rage – the British based promotion was active from 2002 to 2008 and featured Vitor Belfort,
Michael Bisping, Anderson Silva, “Bigfoot” Silva, Dan Severn, Brad Pickett and more.
·
Extreme Challenge MMA
– Formed in the mid-1990s, Extreme Challenge’s vast library includes
everything from MMA pioneer fights with the likes of UFC Hall of Famers
Dan Severn, Matt Hughes and Pat Miletich to bouts featuring modern UFC
starts including Tim Kennedy and reigning welterweight champion Robbie
Lawler.
·
XFO – The premiere regional promotion in American’s Mid-West since its 2004 inception, the
X-Treme Fighting Organization’s archives boast appearances from Chael Sonnen, Clay Guida, Jamie Varner and Felice Herrig.
·
UCMMA – the successor to Cage Rage Championships, UCMMA features some of the best British
talent including the early bouts of Jimi Manuwa, Tom Watson and Brad Pickett.
·
Hook N Shoot
– A US based group which ran from the mid-1990s to 2011 and boasted
appearances
from future UFC fighters like champions Jens Pulver and Frank Mir,
contenders including Antonio Nogueira and female pioneers including
Miesha Tate.
·
King of the Cage
– Founded in 1998 in California, KOTC has featured a who’s who of MMA
over
the years, including Dan Severn, Rampage Jackson, Daniel Cormier, Rory
MacDonald, Urijah Faber, and early career appearances from current UFC
champions Ronda Rousey, Demetrious Johnson, Robbie Lawler and TJ
Dillashaw.
·
TKO – This Canadian league ran from 2000 to 2008 and served as a proving ground for the best
Canadian talent including Patrick Cote, Sam Stout and Mark Hominick and Georges St-Pierre.
·
Pancrase
- Launched in 1993, this iconic organization from Japan has featured
legendary MMA
pioneers including Ken Shamrock, Bas Rutten, Josh Barnett and Masakatsu
Funaki plus more modern names like Jose Aldo and Chael Sonnen.
Further details will be announced in the coming weeks and months.
UFC FIGHT PASS is available now at
UFCFIGHTPASS.com
on personal computers, Apple TV, iPad, iPhone, Chromecast,
Android, Samsung, LG Smart TV and Roku. Subscriptions are $9.99 month
to month, $8.99 per month for six months or $7.99 per month for a
one-year subscription.
