iWorld
BRAVE CF and MX Player forge multi-year MMA content deal for India
Mumbai: BRAVE Combat Federation, the fastest-growing MMA organisation in the world, and MX Player, India’s No. one OTT platform, have announced a landmark, multi-year agreement that will see content from the martial arts organisation distributed across the continental nation as interest in MMA continues to rise.
The organisation, founded under the vision of His Highness Shaikh Khaled bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the fifth son of the King of Bahrain, has become the most global MMA organisation. Having travelled to 28 countries in six years of operations, BRAVE Combat Federation is the only global mixed martial arts company to have hosted events in India, more specifically in Mumbai and Hyderabad. BRAVE CF is also home to some of the best Indian fighters in MMA today, including the number one Indian Bantamweight Mohammed Farhad.
He will be among the hundreds of fighters featured in the content to be distributed by MX Player in India, as one of the biggest OTT platforms in Asia and the fastest-growing mixed martial arts organization in the world partner to educate Indian fans on the sport as well as continue to expand the brand and the sport in the country.
BRAVE Combat Federation president Mohammed Shahid celebrated the deal as a momentous occasion for Indian MMA and shared his hopes of continuing BRAVE Combat Federation’s mission in India: to find the next superstars of the sport and to build a new sports economy for mixed martial arts in the country. Shahid believes the partnership with MX Player is key in the pursuit of these goals.
‘’As the most global and fastest-growing mixed martial arts organization in the world, BRAVE Combat Federation has the vision to bring the world of MMA to India and take India to the world of MMA as well. We want to build a sports economy for martial arts that can have a similar impact that cricket has in Indian sports. Our partnership with MX Player is key to achieving our goals. MX Player is the leading content distribution company in the country. Their reach and storytelling strengths will help us tell some of the best stories in sports today and bring them to the biggest audience in India and together we will change the landscape of mixed martial arts in the country’’.
MX Player Spokesperson said, “After the astounding success of Kumite 1 Warrior Hunt, we have partnered with BRAVE Combat Federation, a global leader in Mixed Martial Arts. MMA, as a sport, has been receiving immense popularity in India and we are excited to be at the forefront of its growth with the series from BRAVE. We’re certain that this collaboration will provide our users with top-class MMA content and fuel the sport’s growth and its fanbase in India”.
iWorld
WhatsApp may soon let users to pick who sees their status updates
The messaging giant is borrowing a page from Instagram’s playbook as it pushes to give users finer control over their social circles.
CALIFORNIA: WhatsApp is quietly working on a feature that could make its Status function considerably smarter and considerably more private.
According to reports from beta tracking platforms, the app is testing a tool called Status lists, which would allow users to create named groups such as close friends, family and colleagues, and control precisely which group sees each update. It is a meaningful step up from the platform’s current blunt instruments, which offer only three options: share with all contacts, exclude specific people, or manually select individuals each time.
The new feature draws an obvious comparison with Instagram’s Close Friends function, and the resemblance is unlikely to be accidental. Both platforms sit within Meta’s family, and the company has been nudging them toward a common logic of audience segmentation for some time.
The move also fits neatly into WhatsApp’s broader privacy push. The platform has been rolling out enhanced chat protections and is exploring the introduction of usernames, which would allow users to connect without exchanging phone numbers. Status lists extend that philosophy from messaging into broadcasting.
Meanwhile, Status itself has been evolving well beyond its origins as a simple photo-and-text slideshow. The feature now supports music stickers, collages, longer videos and interactive elements, pushing it closer to the social-media-style story format pioneered by Snapchat and refined by Instagram. In that context, finer audience controls are not merely a privacy feature. They are a precondition for people sharing more.
The feature remains in development and has not been confirmed for release. WhatsApp routinely tests tools that are later modified or quietly shelved. But the direction of travel is clear: the app wants Status to be a destination, not an afterthought. Letting users decide exactly who is in the audience is how it gets there.
