NEW YORK (Sept. 21, 2010) – In anticipation of their must-see grudge rematch on Saturday, Oct. 9, SHOWTIME® will re-air the memorable first fight between Nick Diaz and KJ Noons as part of an hour-long, multi-fight highlight package on SHO 2 beginning Friday, Sept. 24, at 10 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).
The Diaz-Noons special, which features their original showdown along with three of Diaz’s past fights and three of Noons’ past fights, will also air on Tuesday, Sept. 28, at 10:10 p.m. ET/PT on SHO 2 immediately following an airing of Oscar-winning film The Hurt Locker. It will air again on Monday, Oct. 4, at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHO2. The program will also be available On Demand beginning Sept. 24.
The first slugfest ended in bloody controversy when Noons won a disputed, first-round upset TKO over Diaz in a thrilling, give-and-take brawl, Nov. 7, 2007, on SHOWTIME. Both fighters have gone undefeated since their last meeting and bad blood between the brash fighters has only been growing.
Diaz-Noons II will be for Diaz’s STRIKEFORCE World Welterweight Title in the main event of a sensational fight card at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., which will also feature Sarah Kaufman defending her STRIKEFORCE Women’s Welterweight World Title against No. 1 contender Marloes Coenen.
The following Diaz and Noons fights, consisting of five knockouts and one submission, will also appear on the highlight video: Diaz vs. Thomas Denny (July 26, 2008), Diaz vs. Scott Smith (June 6, 2009), Diaz vs. Marius Zaromskis (Jan. 30, 2010), Noons vs. James Edson Berto (July 27, 2007), Noons vs. Yves Edwards (June 14, 2008) and Noons vs. Jorge Gurgel (Aug. 21, 2010).
About STRIKEFORCE
STRIKEFORCE (www.strikeforce.com) is a world-class mixed martial arts cage fight promotion which, on Friday, March 10, 2006, made history with its “Shamrock vs. Gracie” event, the first sanctioned mixed martial arts fight card in California state history. The star-studded extravaganza, which pitted legendary champion Frank Shamrock against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cesar Gracie at San Jose’s HP Pavilion, played host to a sold-out, record crowd of 18,265. Since 1995, STRIKEFORCE, sanctioned by ISKA, has been the exclusive provider of martial arts programming for ESPN and, after 12 years of success as a leading, world championship kickboxing promotion, the company unveiled its mixed martial arts (MMA) series with “Shamrock vs. Gracie.” In May 2008, West Coast Productions, the parent company of STRIKEFORCE, partnered with Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment (SVS&E), an entity created in 2000 to oversee all business operation aspects of the San Jose Sharks and HP Pavilion at San Jose. In March 2009, STRIKEFORCE signed a multi-year agreement with SHOWTIME® to stage live events on the premium cable television network. The promotion has since also produced two live, primetime events on the CBS Television Network.
About Showtime Networks Inc.
Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CBS Corporation, owns and operates the premium television networks SHOWTIME®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ and FLIX®, as well as the multiplex channels SHOWTIME 2™, SHOWTIME® SHOWCASE, SHOWTIME EXTREME®, SHOWTIME BEYOND®, SHOWTIME NEXT®, SHOWTIME WOMEN®, SHOWTIME FAMILY ZONE® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ XTRA. SNI also offers SHOWTIME HD™, SHOWTIME 2 HD™, THE MOVIE CHANNEL HD™, SHOWTIME ON DEMAND®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL ON DEMAND™ and FLIX ON DEMAND®. SNI also manages Smithsonian Channel™, a joint venture between SNI and the Smithsonian Institution. All SNI feeds provide enhanced sound using Dolby Digital 5.1. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME PPV®.