The British mixed martial arts promotion Cage Gladiators have announced a television deal with ITV4 that will bring MMA to digital terrestrial television to the UK for the first time.

The Liverpool based promotion's shows will air from May 18 at midnight.

The agreement marks a massive break into the mainstream, according to Cage Gladiators promoter Chris Zorba.

"I think to get it on a terrestrial channel has been one major obstacle MMA has had," said Zorba. "It's just all the ignorance really from day one, [and] now we're turning people around to get them to understand that it's not like cockfighting, bare-knuckle fighting.

"All the publicity it's had from America with the UFC coming over, it's starting to become more mainstream. It is a technical sport. These fighters are so skilled and have to master so many different arts to fight in a cage."

The news comes after the announcement early this week that the Californian EliteXC promotion has penned a deal with CBS, marking the debut of MMA on network television in America.

ITV4 will broadcast two preview shows ahead of May's full debut, as well as promoting Cage Gladiators' upcoming April show.

The announcement means that UK fans now have a third MMA promotion to watch on a regular basis.

Several weeks ago, Setanta Sports announced that they had signed a new multi-year deal with the UFC that sees all UFC pay-per-views broadcast live on Setanta Sports 1 from this summer.

The London-based Cage Rage promotion also airs its shows live on Sky Sports.