Newport Beach, Calif. (March 18, 2014) – Bellator MMA, the world’s largest tournament based mixed martial arts promotion and global health supplement and lifestyle company Bamboo Nutra announced today a new multi-year, multi-faceted sponsorship alliance making Bamboo Nutra the “Official Nutrition and Supplement Partner” of Bellator.
On Friday, April 4th, live on Spike TV, the alliance formally kicks off during Bellator 115 from the Reno Events Center in Reno, NV. Bamboo Nutra will be strategically integrated throughout all live Bellator broadcasts on Spike in addition to activating a host of consumer touch points on-site and in-market during the coming years.
“In addition to the wide-ranging in the cage and on broadcast integrations with our new partners at Bamboo Nutra, we’ll also be working with our new partners to go into local communities to empower and inspire kids to be the best they can be,” said Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney.
Bellator and Bamboo Nutra are launching a community outreach program called the “Champions Challenge” by going into local schools and jointly talking to kids about awakening the champion within.
According to Leighton Dean, VP of Bamboo Nutra, “We want to challenge the kids to step out of their own comfort zone and do something good for others. With that we are challenging the kids to post videos or write letters with what they are doing differently in their communities, including, and most importantly, showing compassion for others.”
“To unite our efforts and tap into the digital realm, we are encouraging the kids to add hashtags to their videos #bellatormma #bamboonutra #championschallenge,” said Rebney.
Bellator and Bamboo Nutra recently completed their first community outreach project at Portola Middle School in Santa Ana, California. As part of the assembly, Bjorn Rebney, cage side announcer Jimmy Smith, Cheick Kongo, Bamboo Nutra’s life coach Rex Crain and a host of other executives spoke to over 300 students on the power and purpose of reaching beyond your dreams.
“The underlying message we want to deliver to the future of the world is to never quit. Never give up. Decide to be great. Expect more from yourself. Go for your dreams and beyond them,” said Dean.
Bellator and Bamboo Nutra will be awarding students with once in a lifetime experiences to attend Bellator events, meet the fighters, go backstage and live the MMA experience.
“At the end of the day, our brands align on many levels – aside from powering our athletes, this relationship marks another very positive step in our efforts to inspire young people to become future champions in whatever they choose to do. And this is a direct alignment with the mentality of our athletes. It doesn’t matter where you come from, your religion, your socio-economic status, it’s about having a vision, striving for better, and getting up when you get knocked down,” said Rebney.
On Friday, April 4th, Vitaly Minakov will look to defend his Bellator Heavyweight World Championship belt against Cheick Kongo during the Main Event.
“The partnership with Bellator was born out of our sponsorship of champion fighter, Cheick Kongo,” said Dean, “With Cheick, we have a high profile and accomplished athlete that upholds the values and ideals of the Bamboo Nutra brand. Now with Bellator, we are aligned with a premier organization to help us positively reach millions upon millions of people week in and week out reinforcing the message of living a healthy, fitness based and compassionate lifestyle.”
