New fighting game tournament the KO Cup will have its live finals take place at Meltdown London later this year.
Games include Injustice 2, Tekken 7, Real Boxing, Fight Night Champion and a promo video also displays Smash Bros.
Prizes include the KO Cup, beanies and a boxing glove signed by The Eubanks.
Participants aged over 16 can register to take part here. From the initial entries, 128 players will be selected to compete in the finals. An online duel system will knock out players as they progress through the rounds and on to the quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals.
“We are pleased to be expanding into the esports arena and recognise the potential that exists in combat esports.”
Robert Waterman, SecondsOut
The first matches will take place on Wednesday September 4th, with the live finals getting underway at Meltdown London on November 5th. In other Meltdown news, the gaming bar chain has just opened a new branch in Sheffield.
All the KO Cup action will be covered by the tournament’s media partner SecondsOut, which is a combat sports channel on YouTube with almost a quarter of a million subscribers.
Robert Waterman, founder and CEO of SecondsOut, commented: “We are pleased to be
expanding into the esports arena and recognise the potential that exists in combat esports. We believe the KO Cup will be a benchmark for excellence in this fast developing sector.”
Peter Lewinton, founder of The KO Cup, added: “SecondsOut are recognised as a
leading combat sports channel by fans, fighters and promoters and we are pleased to be
working with them on a long term basis.”
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He has almost two decades of experience in journalism, and left Esports News UK in June 2025.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He also previously worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation.
