Combate Americas signs ESPN rights deal

US sports broadcaster ESPN has acquired rights to Hispanic mixed martial arts series Combate Americas’ upcoming ‘Combate Clásico’ event.

The event will take place in the US city of Miami on July 27.

According to the Sporting News website, ESPN will provide coverage via its ESPN3 live-streaming service and its official app.

ESPN will also provide coverage of the event in Latin America.

The 10-bout card forms part of a week-long series of events in Miami surrounding its staging of two games during the American leg of the International Champions Cup pre-season football competition, which includes an exhibition match between Spanish LaLiga clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid at Hard Rock Stadium on July 29.

The rival teams will face each other at the ‘El Clásico Miami’, a match named after the famous ‘El Clásico’ derby game in Spain. The game will be the first time that the clubs will have played each other in North America and will mark the first meeting outside Spain since 1982.

To celebrate the occasion, the Combate Americas event will feature an ‘El Clásico’ match of its own when Barcelona’s Abner Lloveras fights against Javier Fuentes of Madrid in the main event at Combate Clásico.