With UFC moving all programming to the Fox networks in 2012, and with their first card taking place on November 12th (featuring a main event of UFC Heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez defending his title against Junior dos Santos), all seems right at UFC headquarters. Over at Spike TV, though, things aren’t looking so rosy. UFC’s longtime cable partner Spike TV have announced a programming move that is sure to create further discord between the two parties.
The day of the fight on Fox, Spike TV will begin airing a day of “UFC Unleashed” programming that is being dubbed “Dos Santos vs. Velasquez: Unleashed for the Heavyweight Title.” See what they did there? Kind of flipped some words around to make it seem like they had a title fight, right?
The show will, in fact, feature previous fights by the two fighters to combat the UFC’s first show on network television. The Fox show kicks off a huge seven-year deal between the UFC and the network which will see four UFC events on Fox. Other flagship programming, such at “The Ultimate Fighter” and UFC Fight Night, will move to Fox’s FX and FUEL TV.
The one-hour FOX broadcast of UFC on FOX 1 takes place at Honda Center in Anaheim, California and features the Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos Heavyweight title fight. Full UFC events will not begin on Fox until 2012.
The Spike TV marathon begins as the title fight begins on Fox.
The full slate of Spike TV programming for November 12th includes:
9 PM ET/PT
Jon Jones vs. Ryan Bader
Junior Dos Santos vs. Shane Carwin
Cain Velasquez vs. Brock Lesnar
10 PM ET/PT
Junior Dos Santos vs. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic
Tyson Griffin vs. Hermes France
Thiago Silva vs. Keith Jardine
11 PM ET/PT
Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira
Matt Serra vs. Frank Trigg
Pat Barry vs Antoni Hardonk
Mark Munoz vs Kendall Grove
