The war for television viewer numbers on Friday nights is going to heat up beginning this March with Spike TV’s announcement to run a best of “The Ultimate Fighter” episodes in a three-hour block on Friday evenings.
Fridays is also the new home for “TUF” on FX, beginning with “TUF 15″ on March 9 as well as the new scheduled night for Bellator Fighting Championships live events, who look to kick their sixth season on March 2.
Looks like the shut-ins such as myself will have plenty of MMA to keep them busy on Friday and Saturday nights in the coming year.
Here is the official press release from Spike TV>
Press Release – New York, NY, December 20, 2011 — Spike TV, the recognized home of mixed martial arts on television, has announced a new three-hour programming block debuting on Friday, March 2 (9:00 PM – Midnight, ET/PT) featuring the greatest episodes from the 14 seasons of “The Ultimate Fighter.” From Rashad Evans to Matt Serra, from Forrest Griffin to Kimbo Slice, “The Ultimate Fighter Fridays” on Spike TV will showcase all the incredible knockouts, unbelievable submissions, and tense drama from the seven years of the hit Spike series. The network will air special-themed editions of “The Ultimate Fighter Fridays” with input from fans via Facebook and Twitter. Details will be announced in the upcoming weeks.
Among the UFC legendary coaches and fighters that will appear on “The Ultimate Fighter Fridays” on Spike TV include Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz, Georges St. Pierre, Brock Lesnar, Rich Kranklin, Matt Hughes, Rampage Jackson, Ken Shamrock, BJ Penn, Dan Henderson, Kenny Florian, Josh Koscheck, Rashad Evans, Forrest Griffin, Stephan Bonnar, Matt Serra, Kimbo Slice, Diego Sanchez, Joe Stevenson, Michael Bisping, Roy Nelson, Ryan Bader, Frank Mir, and many more.
Spike TV is available in 99.8 million homes and is a division of Viacom Networks. A unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), Viacom Media Networks is one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike TV’s Internet address is www.spike.com and for up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs, visit Spike TV’s press site at http://www.spike.com/press. Follow us on Twitter @spiketvpr for the latest in breaking news updates, behind-the-scenes information and photos.