NEW YORK (Feb. 13, 2025) - VICE TV today announced it has reached a landmark multi-year media rights agreement with BYB Bare Knuckle Boxing, the world's oldest and largest bare knuckle fighting company. VICE Sports will televise 13 live events in prime time this year, with most airing on Saturday nights, kicking off with BYB 37 Denver Brawl IV on Feb. 22. BYB will have the distinction of being VICE TV's first live sports event series as the 40M plus subscriber cable television network continues its programming shift to a sports-first model.
Since its inception, BYB has continuously given fight fans what they truly want: the best fighters in the world, taking the gloves off and facing one another in the oldest and purest form of combat sports, bare knuckle boxing. BYB's patented, 3-sided Trigon ring is the smallest fighting surface in combat sports, which pushes the action to the middle of the ring, forcing fighters to fight and resulting in a ninety percent knockout rate.
"We look forward to adding live BYB Bare Knuckle Boxing, our first live event series, as a mainstay of the VICE TV schedule as VICE Sports continues to fill its programming slate with compelling sports-themed docuseries, programs, live events, and podcasts," said Pete Gaffney, President of VICE TV. "BYB is a combat sport surging in popularity, and having it on VICE TV helps us fulfill our mission of featuring provocative sports programming that our audience now expects."
"Bare Knuckle Boxing is growing faster than any other sport, with a trajectory that mirrors MMA twenty-five years ago, and that growth and popularity will only accelerate as VICE TV builds out VICE Sports," said BYB CEO Greg Bloom. "BYB, like VICE TV, prides itself on being an industry innovator and disruptor, and we look forward to being a tentpole partner as VICE Sports continues to elevate exciting original and live programming."
Over the past year, BYB has become the international leader in this new and exciting combat sport, making significant strides in reshaping the landscape. With BYB's acquisition of Europe's BKB, the oldest bare knuckle company in the modern era, BYB has doubled its international roster and historic bare knuckle fight library, while significantly increasing the interest in BYB's global distribution.
BYB 37 will take place on Saturday, Feb. 22 (9:00 PM -12:00 AM ET) at the Stockyards Event Center in Denver, Colorado. The main event will pit two of BYB's most explosive (and undefeated) fighters against one another when men's Super Lightweight champion Harry "The Hitman" Gigliotti defends his Police Gazette Diamond Belt against Jon "Untameable" Barnard. In the co-main event, BYB Women's Featherweight champion Helen Peralta looks to become a 2-division champion when she faces Brazil's Lailane Mota for the vacant BYB Super Featherweight Police Gazette Diamond belt.
As global demand for sports programming continues to grow, VICE Media recently launched the VICE Sports brand, coupled with a significantly expanded original sports programming strategy. VICE TV, the cable television network in partnership with A+E, has shifted its programming to a sports-first model (find VICE TV viewing and streaming options here). Recent VICE Sports premieres include debate series Brady vs Belichick: The Verdict, with host Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo; Calipari: Razor's Edge, a docuseries following the legendary coach in his first season with the Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball team; and Pitino: Red Storm Rising, a backstage pass as Pitino and St. John's University's Red Storm strive to capture the school's first BIG EAST Conference title since the turn of the century. Overall, the company will produce more than 50 hours of sports-themed docuseries, programs, events, and podcasts for global distributors across television and digital.
ABOUT BYB BARE KNUCKLE BOXING
Originating in South Florida with backyard legend Dada 5000, whose backyard fights gained worldwide popularity online, BYB was founded to harness the excitement of bare knuckle into a more structured product for a broader, more mainstream audience. Since 2015, BYB has hosted events in Wyoming, Mississippi, Florida, New Mexico, Louisiana, South Carolina, Colorado, England, Wales, and Dubai, and is continuing to work with athletic commissions throughout the United States and globally to expand the fanbase and grow the sport of bare knuckle. For more information, visit bybextreme.com and follow us on social media @bybextreme.
ABOUT VICE MEDIA
VICE Media is a global media and entertainment company, focused on producing authentic, high-quality content across television, digital, film, news, and branded advertising. The company has four main businesses in its portfolio: VICE Studios (award winning television, documentary, and film production company); VICE TV (40M plus subscriber sports and entertainment cable network in partnership with A+E); VIRTUE Worldwide (a global, full-service strategic, creative, and branded entertainment agency that excels in increasing brands’ cultural capital in today’s ever-changing, digital-first world) and Pulse (leading commercial and music video production company). Recent Vice Studios content includes hit UK series Gangs of London (now available on Netflix in the U.S), MAX documentary Bama Rush and the newly launched video podcast Shane Smith Has Questions which has attracted millions of views on YouTube.
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