COMBATE GLOBAL LICENSES THE FIRST THREE 2026 ENGLISH LIVE EVENTS TO FAMED YOUTUBE CREATOR, BEGINNING ON FEBRUARY 26
February 5, 2026
COMBATE GLOBAL and Shane Fazen of FIGHTTIPS partner on first-of-its-kind Creator Distribution Partnership for first three English live events in 2026.
The FIGHTTIPS YouTube channel
has aggregated over 490 million lifetime views.
BURBANK, CALIF. – February 5, 2026 – COMBATE GLOBAL and world renowned content creator, Shane Fazen, today announced an unprecedented licensing agreement to distribute the Hispanic-focused franchise’s first three live 2026 Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) on Fazen’s wildly popular YouTube channel, FIGHTTIPS.
The live distribution on FIGHTTIPS, which has racked up over 490 million YouTube views over its lifespan, begins with COMBATE GLOBAL’s season premiere show in Burbank, Calif. on Thursday, Feb. 26. The event will be headlined by the previously announced return of Mexican television star turned MMA competitor Jawy “The Mexican Jake Paul” Mendez (1-1), who will face off with an opponent to be announced next week.
The live YouTube will stream in English, complementing COMBATE GLOBAL’s live Spanish television broadcasts in the U.S. on EstrellaTV and Samsung TV Plus.
With this deal, Shane Fazen of FIGHTTIPS becomes the first creator in history to license live combat sports content.
The partnership underscores the growing global media trend of YouTube creators morphing into self-owned distribution channels by licensing third-party content, particularly in competitive sports.
The partnership also marks COMBATE GLOBAL’s commitment to the organization’s previously announced, overarching strategy to deepen its position as a YouTube live event content machine to engage new, young, digital-first viewers.
“YouTube is not the future of TV viewership – It is the present,” said COMBATE GLOBAL CEO Campbell McLaren. “Through our agreement with Shane and FIGHTTIPS, we are at the edge of the tsunami of change in the media world.
“We have had a front row seat to COMBATE GLOBAL’s success with live events streaming on our platform, so I think this licensing deal the company has done will just continue to fast track its growth and position as appointment television on YouTube,” said Josh Carroll, Sports Content Partnerships Manager for YouTube.
“COMBATE GLOBAL fights produce some of the most exciting action in combat sports, with many of the best new Hispanic fighters in the world and, as an educator and enthusiast in the space, I have fallen in love with the content,” said Fazen, a Taekwondo black belt and veteran competitor with 16 fights across Muay Thai, boxing and MMA.
Retired from fighting, Fazen serves as a trainer to more than a dozen fighters.
Fazen has become a familiar face to COMBATE GLOBAL fight fans. In 2025, he served as a color commentator for four events that streamed live in English on COMBATE GLOBAL’s YouTube channel.
COMBATE GLOBAL’s YouTube focused strategy paid dividends last year, leading to an impressive average viewer watch time of 80 percent above YouTube’s average viewing time for content.
The live YouTube streams of 2025 COMBATE GLOBAL events also produced a 41 percent increase in the channel’s subscribers and views.
COMBATE GLOBAL will produce a total of 20 live television events, all from EstrellaTV’s studio in Burbank, Calif.
The remainder of the February 26 fight card will be announced next week.
Additional information about COMBATE GLOBAL and its athletes can be found on www.CombateGlobal.com as well as on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
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About Combate Global
Combate Global is the premier Hispanic Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) sports franchise that is rapidly becoming the number two sport after soccer for Spanish speaking fans worldwide, and that consistently garners television ratings that are superior to those of other major, longer established sports television properties.
Nielsen research indicates that an astounding 91 percent of Combate Global viewers in the U.S. are not regular viewers of other MMA content, demonstrating that Combate Global has garnered a new MMA audience with its World Cup-style, country vs. country-style competition.
Combate Global CEO Campbell McLaren, also the co-founder and creator of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), has been described by New York Magazine as “the marketing genius behind the UFC,” while Yahoo Sports has said he “knows more about the sport than just about anyone in it today.” Under his direction, the growth of Combate Americas’ television footprint and worldwide audience triggered a re-branding in 2021 to Combate Global.
CONTACT:
Mike Afromowitz – COMBATE GLOBAL
917-566-8754
