Type Private Founded 2011 (2011) Headquarters Bucharest, Romania | Industry Kickboxing promotion Founder Eduard Irimia | |
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The SUPERKOMBAT Fighting Championship, frequently shortened to simply SUPERKOMBAT or SK, is one of Europe's major kickboxing promotions, that produces events in Romania and across the world. Eduard Irimia serves as the president of the SUPERKOMBAT.
Contents
- History
- SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix
- SUPERKOMBAT New Heroes
- SUPERKOMBAT Tryouts
- SUPERKOMBAT Academy 2015
- Production team
- Broadcast
- CBS partnership
- References
In 2011, Superkombat cemented its status as one of the best kickboxing promotions in the world by taking the Best Promotion Of The Year Award (under K-1 rules) at the World Independent Promoters Union Awards. Dutch promotions Ultimate Glory and It's Showtime, and Italian promotion Fight Code were the other finalists who presented at the Award.
On the back of a successful year, Superkombat has been nominated in the “Promotion of the Year” category of the Combat Press 2016 Kickboxing Awards.
History
After having 8 years of experience in Local Kombat, Irimia decided to expand internationally launching the product under new name in 2011. SUPERKOMBAT is well-known mainly for heavyweight fights and includes an elimination tournament in the heavyweight division and bouts at different weight classes.
The first SK event too place in 2011 in Râmnicu Vâlcea, Romania. The purpose of the event was to determine the most effective stand-up martial art between opponents from all over the world from different disciplines, including boxing, kickboxing, MMA, judo, karate, Muay Thai, wrestling, and others.
On 10 August 2012, SK began working together with K-1 in the development of K-1's live event production. SUPERKOMBAT has also assisted K-1 in securing the best new kickboxing talent coming out of Europe. At the K-1 World Grand Prix 2012 Final, nearly all K-1 fighters were from the SK roster. The agreement has been eventually ended in April 2013.
SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix
SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix is an elimination tournament that has been held annually since 2011. Each year SK holds mainly 4-man tournaments over six events to decide the SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix champion.
SUPERKOMBAT New Heroes
SUPERKOMBAT New Heroes is a platform launched in 2013 for up-and-coming talent which has served since its inception as the official developmental territory for SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix.
SUPERKOMBAT Tryouts
The SUPERKOMBAT Tryouts seek new contestants.
SUPERKOMBAT Academy (2015-)
A 32-man heavyweight tournament will take place in th next 3 years in search of the next star. A sizeable investment of $5 million put into reality series to introduce the fighters at live events, with SK paying gym costs, coaches and medical bills, and even for travel.
Production team
Cyrus Fees, Jelani Khalfani or Brad Vee Johnson are the official ring announcer for SUPERKOMBAT events. Cezar Gheorghe of Romania was one of the best known referees working for the organization.
Broadcast
According to the SUPERKOMBAT, its programming is broadcast in over 100 countries across 5 continents.
In 2011, the SUPERKOMBAT Fighting Championship burst into the mainstream with a landmark long-term broadcast agreement with Eurosport.
Fight Now TV is the exclusive home of SUPERKOMBAT Fighting Championship in the United States, a station that reaches roughly 80 million households. The partnership started with SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix III 2013.
Sport.ro is the home for SUPERKOMBAT programming in Romania.
In May 2013, SUPERKOMBAT announced a partnership with Playbook International GmbH & Co. KG for global media rights.
In September 2013, SK launched a live streaming partnership with Epicentre.tv.
On 18 March 2014, SUPERKOMBAT announced that they have agreed to extend their Eurosport contract, until the end of the 2016 season.
CBS partnership
On December 14, 2016, The SUPERKOMBAT Fighting Championship and CBS announced a one-year broadcast deal through the CBS Sports Network subsidiary, effectively ending the SUPERKOMBAT's Eurosport partnership. The deal includes six events.