Combate Americas to hold live fights weekly on NBC Universo

Campbell McLaren is no stranger to innovation in mixed martial arts, considering he was one of the co-creators of the UFC. And he'll be trying something different in MMA this spring.

Combate Americas, McLaren's Hispanic-focused MMA promotion, will hold cards every week for a month on NBC Universo beginning April 18 and almost all of them will be live from the Los Angeles area, officials are set to announce soon.

A weekly format has been done before in MMA, most notably by Bellator, but Combate Americas main cards will only be an hour long, featuring three fights apiece. The prelims will have five fights. The first two broadcasts will be live from Exchange LA in Downtown. Combate Americas is targeting putting on 30 fights in a span of 30 days.

In the first main event April 18, Team Alpha Male product Erick Sanchez will meet Mike Segura. Sanchez (6-2) has won two in a row and coming off a third-round TKO of Ousmane Thomas Diagne in Bellator back in December. Segura (4-2) is a veteran of RFA and BAMMA USA.

Other fighters featured over the course of the month will be Ricky Palacios, John Castaneda and Kyra Batara. There will be at least one women's fight per card. The best performers over the four events will earn world title shots in a series of events that will begin in September.

"We are thrilled to be featured in a new, weekly slot that will allow us to continuously showcase the best and most exciting young Hispanic fighters and future world champions" McLaren said. "Since we launched our franchise, NBC Universo has played an instrumental part in helping Combate Americas engage a national Hispanic audience, so we look forward to returning to their incredible platform, and entertaining and inspiring new and existing MMA fans throughout the U.S."

NBC Universo is an English-speaking network geared toward Hispanic Americans.

"Combate Americas is a great place for fighters of Latin backgrounds to shine in front of martial arts fans," said Bilai Joa Silar, the senior vice president of programming and production at NBC Universo. "It's very exciting to have another season of Combate Americas on NBC Universo. We're sure our audience will be thrilled with each fight scheduled, since they will all feature top-notch fighters."