Karate Combat announced a comprehensive expansion today following the success of its first four events with fighters, fans and sponsors. A full year series of championship fights will take place in 10 locations across 4 continents, including Kyoto, Shanghai, Rio de Janeiro, New York City, Miami, Paris, Italy and Latvia. The league also announced a new competition structure, with title and challenger bouts at every event, all in pursuit of the Golden Belt. In addition, Karate Combat will soon announce a series of non-title and qualifier events.
The first competition of the year will be held on Thursday, January 24th in Hollywood, California. Combat sports hall of famer and television personality Bas Rutten and expert fight announcer Sean Wheelock will return as commentators.
“We’re excited to expand Karate Combat in its second season with a more defined and expansive structure,” said Michael DePietro, CEO of Karate Combat. “Our mix of intense, full contact action and respect for traditional martial arts virtues is resonating far and wide.”
Karate Combat is the first mainstream full contact karate league, celebrating the core values of martial arts while boosting engagement with the sport through updated rules and production values. Millions have viewed the first four competitions and the league has been featured on CNN, BBC, CBS, NBC, ESPN, AP, Sports Illustrated, the New York Times, the Washington Post and many other media outlets.
The league uses its patent-pending Karate Combat Fighting Pit to stage events in exotic locations all over the world, giving the competitions an atmosphere reminiscent of 80’s martial arts films combined with the most advanced video game-style stats and control
panels. The league also seeks out locations with historical significance: Karate Combat: Olympus took place in the temple-like building where the first modern Olympics staged combat competitions in 1895, while Karate Combat: One World was held at the symbolically powerful observation deck at the top of the World Trade Center.
The top of the Los Angeles card will have two of Karate Combat’s most exciting fighters, who both scored first round knockouts in their previous fights. Spain’s Igor de Castaneda will fight the Dominican Republic’s Jorge Perez. Other featured fights will include New York City’s Elhadji “Black Magic” N’Dour, who had wins in Miami and New York, challenged by Scotland’s Calum Robb, and British champion Jerome Brown facing Abdallah Ibrahim of New York. The full card will be released soon.
Karate Combat events stream live at the league’s site, karate.com, on its Android and iOS apps and Roku channel, and partners that have included UFC Fight Pass, CBS Sports Live, DailyMotion,, FITE, YouTube, Pluto TV, Eleven Sports, The Fight Network, and Facebook Live.