KEY POINTS:
The Kings of Oceania martial arts competition is about to grow into a global tournament thanks to an $8 million deal with a Canadian sports website broadcaster.
There will be four qualifying events starting at SkyCity in Auckland on February 9 then moving to Macau, on to either
Moscow or Croatia, then Vienna in Austria. The venue for the final is still being determined, probably Las Vegas.
The new KO competition in stand-up kickboxing will offer world tournament crowns at middleweight (to 72kg), cruiserweight (86kg) and heavyweight (open) as opposed to the Japanese-controlled K1 which is only contested at open weight.
At each event, there will be four invited fighters for each weight. Two preliminary bouts of three, three-minute rounds determine two finalists at each weight division.
Organiser Dixon McIver said the KO World Series "will create pure adrenalin action-packed international bouts". The deal with McNSports offered "global accessibility and the affordability of great fighting sports entertainment delivered right to your home". He estimated the pay-per-view cost would be less than $10.
MCNSports is a leading web broadcaster in North America, streaming ice hockey, NASCAR racing, F1, the English premier league and college football, hockey and basketball. It has also just signed a deal with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to cover NCAA athletics States-wide.
The problem with web broadcasting up to now has been poor picture quality, but the Canadian company is leading technology development to stream what it rates as "near-high definition" pictures. With the right equipment, these can be viewed on television and home theatre screens.
"Getting the KO World Series is a great building block for MCN," said programme director Jim Williams. "We want the best content for our broadband network and getting the KO World Series puts a major series in our portfolio."
McIver promoted K1 here under the Japanese organisation's rules and was promoter and manager of champion Ray Sefo before the pair parted company.
K1 is losing its appeal in Japan and elsewhere because of the regularity with which its contracted fighters meet each other. McIver is confident KO will attract some of those as they come off contract but one of his main aims is to give a chance to smaller, lower-weight fighters.
"What we want to deliver is the power that the heavyweights have plus the speed of the smaller fighters."
The attraction for contestants, along with appearance fees, will be the US$30,000 ($39,700) up for grabs at each of the four qualifying events and the US$120,000 on offer at the final.
McIver said promoters in several European cities had talked to him about hosting future events.
