Victory Fighting Championship® Inks Deal with UFC FIGHT PASS®
UFC FIGHT PASS® Presents VICTORY 47: SMITH vs. MUTAPCIC
for the Middleweight Championship – Friday, January 29, 2015
Omaha, Neb. — Ryan Stoddard, owner and president of the Omaha-based professional mixed martial arts (MMA) organization, Victory Fighting Championship®, today announced he has inked a distribution deal with UFC FIGHT PASS® and, starting next year, Victory’s events will be shown on the world’s largest digital combat sports subscription channel.
Victory’s premiere on UFC FIGHT PASS will be January 29, 2016 with VICTORY 47: SMITH vs. MUTAPCIC, a three-hour live event culminating with a men’s Victory FC middleweight title fight. VICTORY 47 will be shown exclusively on UFC FIGHT PASS starting at 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT.
“When I launched my company in 2010, the ultimate goal was to formalize a working relationship with the UFC,” said Stoddard. “Today, I’m excited and honored to announce that I’ve reached a deal with the UFC to feature Victory’s events on UFC FIGHT PASS. This is a significant day for Victory and a historic day for our athletes, who now have access to a fan base of millions in over 176 countries worldwide. My deepest thanks go out to UFC for giving Victory and its athletes this incredible opportunity. I can’t wait for January 29 and for fight fans everywhere to see what our fighters and this promotion is all about.”
“We are pleased to have reached an agreement with Victory Fighting Championship to broadcast their exciting events and to showcase their talented athletes to fight fans on UFC FIGHT PASS,” said Eric Winter, UFC Senior Vice President and General Manager of UFC FIGHT PASS. “We look forward to working with Victory and to present its professional MMA events as part of our exclusive UFC FIGHT PASS programming lineup next year.”
UFC FIGHT PASS is available right now, with a free trial, by logging on to www.UFCFightPass.com. Available in 178 countries and territories across the globe, UFC FIGHT PASS features live fights, original programming and unlimited access to the world’s biggest mixed martial arts fight library.
Victory Fighting Championship is a regional Midwest MMA organization that has given rise to a number of UFC stars including Benson Henderson, Jake Ellenberger, Travis Browne, Spencer Fisher and Anthony Smith, among many others. Regularly a sold-out event, Victory holds the largest attendance on record at Nebraska’s Ralston Arena with VICTORY 39, which drew over 5,050 fans on March 30, 2015.
VICTORY 47 will feature the top two fighters in its middleweight division, Elvis Mutapcic and Anthony Smith, who will compete for Victory’s vacant 185-pound title in the night’s main event headliner.
Smith is coming off a six-fight win streak, which saw the Omaha-native score wins over Andrew Kapal, Brian Greene, Victor Moreno, Tim Williams (twice) and most recently Brock Jardine. Five of those half-dozen victories were fight finishes, three by submission and two via TKO. Smith intends to mark his UFC FIGHT PASS debut with another stunning finish for his hometown crowd.
“I’m excited to fight in Omaha again and especially in the first-ever Victory title fight on UFC FIGHT PASS,” said Smith. “This is an honor for me, my family, friends and fans and on January 29 I’m going to put on a performance like never before. My opponent and I are both claiming we’re the best middleweights outside of UFC, although I’m the only one out here proving it. That’s why this will be a can’t miss fight, and one that will make a statement to everyone watching in the arena and live on UFC FIGHT PASS.”
Fighting out of Des Moines, Iowa, the 29-year old Mutapcic is a highly experienced fighter with a 15-3 record. He has won seven of his last eight fights, five coming by submission or TKO and with three ending in the first round. Coming off back-to-back wins, Mutapcic is looking to add another W to his record in addition to becoming the new Victory middleweight champion.
“Anthony Smith is a great fighter and I know he is thinking the same thing as me – I’m the best middleweight and I’m going to prove it live on UFC FIGHT PASS,” said Mutapcic. “But only one of us is right. There will be only one winner and it’s going to be me. He should have never taken this fight! I don’t need five rounds to finish him. He’s getting knocked out and I’m getting that belt.”
Ticket availability and additional bouts for VICTORY 47 will be announced in the near future. For more information about Victory Fighting Championship, please visit VictoryFighter.com, LIKE us on Facebook.com/VictoryFighter and Follow on Twitter and Instagram @VictoryFighting.