SUPER CHANNEL INKS DEAL WITH SHOWTIME® TO AIR STRIKEFORCE MMA LIVE ACROSS CANADA

Posted on | December 2, 2009 | No Comments

First Telecast To Feature Undefeated Superstar CUNG LE In His Long-Awaited Return To The Cage,

Saturday, Dec. 19 vs. Scott Smith

EDMONTON (Dec. 2, 2009)—Super Channel, Canada’s only national pay television network, is pleased to announce an exclusive agreement to offer SHOWTIME Sports® telecasts of STRIKEFORCE Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) events live to viewers across Canada, beginning Saturday, Dec.19. On that night, undefeated middleweight (185 pounds) superstar Cung Le (6-0) will take on hard-hitting Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith (16-6) in the main event of a stacked fight card at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.

The live HD telecast of STRIKEFORCE: Le vs. Smith on Super Channel will begin at 10 p.m. ET and will include as many as five bouts.

“Super Channel is striving to offer Canadians programming they can’t get anywhere else and we saw an excellent opportunity in bringing live MMA to viewers from coast-to-coast and knew it would be well received,” said Sandy Perkins, Super Channel’s Vice President Programming. “We are very pleased to add SHOWTIME Sports® and STRIKEFORCE MMA to our roster with an exclusive deal and will be rounding out our Super Channel Fights! lineup. They are a great team to have in our corner.”

“Canadian fans have consistently shown a deep appreciation for MMA, so to have the opportunity to bring live STRIKEFORCE action to this market on a regular basis on an outstanding, high definition platform like Super Channel is very exciting,” said STRIKEFORCE Founder and CEO Scott Coker.

Also in action on December 19 will be 2000 Olympic wrestling silver medalist Matt “The Law” Lindland (21-6), who will take on fellow superstar Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (10-2) at middleweight. Light heavyweight (205 pounds) star Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal (5-0) and middleweight knockout artist “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler (16-5) will each face opponents to be announced.

Le recently made a successful transition to acting and has since been touted as Hollywood’s next great martial arts action film star. In 2009, he played supporting roles in the science fiction thriller Pandorum, co-starring Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster, as well as the action film Fighting, which co-stars Channing Tatum and Terrence Howard. Next year, he will return to the silver screen in the motion picture adaptation of blockbuster video game franchise Tekken.

Le, who last month voluntarily relinquished the STRIKEFORCE middleweight belt he had claimed by dismantling MMA legend Frank Shamrock in 2008, has never lost a fight in his professional fighting career. He‘s perfect in MMA, kickboxing (22-0) and Sanshou (17-0).