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Ratings War! Spike TV to Counter-Program UFC 178 With Tribute to Eddie Alvarez

Less than a month removed from the Monday Night War that pitted Fight Night 50 against Bellator 123 (and saw the former emerge victorious by razor thin split-decision), the UFC and Bellator are set to go at it again. Sort of.

After finally being granted a release from his much-maligned former promotion thanks to the generous nature of Scott Coker, Eddie Alvarez was almost immediately signed by the UFC and booked to face Donald Cerrone at UFC 178 this weekend. But being that kindness is usually considered a sign of weakness in the fight game, the folks over at Viacom weren’t just going to let Alvarez slip away without *some* form of punishment, which in this case equates to counter-programming his UFC 178 co-main event fight with a 90-minute tribute to Alvarez on Spike TV.

According to MMAJunkie, “Eddie Alvarez: Free on Spike” will air at 10 p.m. ET/PT, a.k.a the same time Saturday’s UFC 178 main card kicks off on pay-per-view. (Ed note: The amount of evil finger-twiddling Coker must be doing in his secret underground lair right now…)

Among the fights being featured in the Alvarez special will be his all out war with Michael Chandler at Bellator 58, which saw him dethroned via 4th round submission, and his rematch with Chandler at Bellator 120 wherein he recaptured the promotion’s lightweight title.

Considering the record numbers Alvarez-Chandler II pulled the first time around, it’s safe to assume that a replay on Spike TV has the potential to draw some significant numbers away from UFC 178. As we mentioned when discussing the abysmal ratings of the TUF 20 premiere, FS1 will likely never be comparable to Spike TV in terms of delivering MMA content to the widest possible audience, and it has been proven in the past that casual fans will turn into *any* MMA event, regardless of whether it is live or being replayed, based solely on the convenience of being able to find said event.

Then again, UFC 178 is one of those rare UFC events these days that actually seems worth the price of admission. Between the slick, handsome Irish kid that takes no shit, the return of Dominick Cruz and Cat Zingano, and the guaranteed barnburner that Alvarez-Cerrone will be (and oh yeah, that flyweight title fight or whatever), UFC 178 has a little something for everybody. So maybe, just this one time, can we all agree to actually pony up the $60 instead of illegally streaming it? I know, marking out so hard right now.

–J. Jones

Spike TV and K-1 Announce Partnership to Broadcast Live Kickboxing Events in 2012-2013

(Oh yes. Oh God, yes. / Video via slafy)

In their continuing efforts to stick it to the UFC, Spike TV has inked a deal with world-reknowned kickboxing organization K-1 to broadcast four live events on Spike.com through the end of this year, and a series of live events on the cable channel in 2013. As K-1 CEO Doug Kaplan explained in a press release distributed yesterday afternoon, “Spike is the perfect television home and stage to introduce our K-1 warriors and the fast-paced, aggressive style of K-1 fighting to fight fans across America.” Spike’s K-1 broadcasts next year will complement their coverage of Bellator Fighting Championships, though air-dates and times for the 2013 shows have yet to be announced.

Rumors of K-1’s demise have plagued the promotion since last year, but an American showcase on a channel that reaches nearly 100 million viewers could resuscitate the brand. Could K-1 be a “gold mine” for Spike, as Joe Rogan once suggested? After the jump, the full text of the press release, including more details on this year’s Spike.com/K-1 broadcasts.

(Oh yes. Oh God, yes. / Video via slafy)

Rumors of K-1′s demise have plagued the promotion since last year, but an American showcase on a channel that reaches nearly 100 million viewers could resuscitate the brand. Could K-1 be a “gold mine” for Spike, as Joe Rogan once suggested? After the jump, the full text of the press release, including more details on this year’s Spike.com/K-1 broadcasts.

SPIKE TV AND K-1, THE WORLD’S PREMIER KICKBOXING PROMOTION, AGREE TO MULTI-PLATFORM PARTNERSHIP FOR 2012 AND 2013

New York, NY, August 20, 2012 – Spike TV and K-1, the world’s premier kickboxing organization, have agreed to a strategic partnership that will begin this fall with live fights streamed on Spike.com beginning Saturday, September 8 at the U.S. World Grand Prix Championships in Los Angeles. There will be a total of four events that will be streamed live in 2012. In 2013, the K-1 events will move from Spike.com to Spike TV to coincide with the network’s extensive coverage of Bellator Fighting Championships.

“We are thrilled to be in business with the world’s preeminent kickboxing organization,” said Jon Slusser, Senior Vice President, Sports and Multiplatform Events, Spike TV. “Spike has the most passionate and knowledgeable fans of combat sports and we are confident that they will enjoy the high-action of K-1, which serves as the perfect complement to our Bellator coverage next year.”

“K-1 is excited to join forces with Spike TV, a powerful and highly experienced cable network known nationally for its combat sports programming, presenting our live K-1 events,” said Doug Kaplan, CEO, K-1. “Spike is the perfect television home and stage to introduce our K-1 warriors and the fast-paced, aggressive style of K-1 fighting to fight fans across America.”

Spike.com’s 2012 coverage will include unprecedented access to K-1 events, from live streaming of the weigh-ins the day before the bouts, to locker room interviews, to live coverage of every fight on the card, including all the prelims.

The four K-1 events in 2012 include:
September 8 – Los Angeles – U.S. Grand Prix Championship
October 14 – Tokyo, Japan – World Grand Prix Final
December 8 – Athens, Greece – MAX Final
December 26 – New York – World Grand Prix Final

The addition of K-1 to Spike TV’s lineup next year further establishes the network as the premier television destination for combat sports. Spike TV will debut Bellator Fighting Championships in January 2013 with a weekly live fight card featuring some of the best rising stars in the mixed martial arts world.

K-1 is the largest kickboxing promotion in history. Since 1993, K-1 has presented professional live martial arts events in 38 countries, featuring the best and most accomplished athletes in the sport.

World Grand Prix Champions of K-1 include Alistair Overeem, Mark Hunt, Ernesto Hoost, Peter Aerts, Remy Bonjasky and Semmy Schilt. K-1 returned to the world stage on May 26, 2012 in Madrid, Spain, drawing a packed stadium and hundreds of thousands of views on the K-1 Live Stream.

Spike TV Is Going Uncomfortably Hard With Their UFC Counter-Programming

(“Fuck it, I’m calling in the air strike.”)

This week in “not honoring the spirit of the deal” news: Spike TV is upping the ante on their UFC counter-programming efforts, launching a new best-of-TUF series that would compete directly against season 15 of The Ultimate Fighter. “The Ultimate Fighter Fridays” will be a three-hour programming block debuting on Friday, March 2nd, at 9 p.m. ET/PT, featuring the best episodes from the first 14 seasons of the reality show. According to the press release, Spike will air special-themed editions of “The Ultimate Fighter Fridays” with input from fans via Facebook and Twitter.

Meanwhile on FX, The Ultimate Fighter LIVE is scheduled to kick off March 9th at 9 p.m. ET/PT, helmed by coaches Urijah Faber and Dominick Cruz. Moving the show to a different network on a different night of the week will surely leave some fans confused if they haven’t been paying attention, and Spike’s new programming block just throws a few more tacks on the road, so to speak. But wait, there’s more…

(“Fuck it, I’m calling in the air strike.”)

Just as Spike aired the incredibly named “Dos Santos vs. Velasquez: Unleashed for the Heavyweight Title“ marathon to steal a few gullible viewers from the UFC’s first FOX broadcast last month, they’re doing it again on January 28th with an eight-hour block called “UFC Unleashed: Evans vs. Davis,” which will (of course) run against the UFC on FOX 2 broadcast headlined by Rashad Evans and Phil Davis. As MMAFighting put it:

Labeling the event “Evans vs. Davis” may do a disservice to some viewers who will set their DVRs for “Evans vs. Davis” only to realize after the fact that they recorded the wrong program, although it’s hard to imagine many viewers will be fooled into watching the wrong fight.

Spike and the UFC will also compete with weekly MMA news shows in 2012 — MMA Junkie Live on Spike and UFC Tonight on FUEL. Time-slots haven’t been finalized yet, but don’t be surprised if they go head-to-head as well.

Wednesday Morning MMA Link Club: Ronda Vs. Karo, Cris Cyborg Training Photos, Bellator’s Best Fights of 2011 + More

(And here we have Ronda Rousey dumping Karo Parisyan on his head. Props: DantheWolfman)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere…

– The Great ‘Must Retire’ List of 2011 (MMA Convert)

– Bellator’s 10 Best Fights of 2011 (The Fight Nerd)

– Photo Gallery: Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos Training for Hiroko Yamanaka (Lowkick.Blitzcorner.com)

– The 25 Most Outrageous MMA-Related Videos on YouTube (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

– Spike TV to Counter-Program ‘UFC on FOX 2’ With ‘UFC Unleashed: Evans vs. Davis’ (MMA Payout)

– Arianny Celeste: Chael Sonnen Is Very Polite To Me Backstage (FightLine)

– Keith Kizer: Urine Is ‘Obviously’ Better Than Blood for Steroid Testing (Fight Opinion)

– Dana White Sees Jon Jones as #2 Pound-for-Pound Fighter in the World (Five Ounces of Pain)

– Joseph Benavidez Inspired to Become a Great Champion in New UFC Flyweight Division (MMA Mania)

– Demian Maia: I Know I Can Submit Michael Bisping (MMAFighting)

– Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Avoids Surgery on Broken Arm (5th Round)

– Can Someone Please Help Felice Herrig With Her Wardrobe Malfunction? (MiddleEasy)

(And here we have Ronda Rousey dumping Karo Parisyan on his head. Props: DantheWolfman)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere…

– The Great ‘Must Retire’ List of 2011 (MMA Convert)

– Bellator’s 10 Best Fights of 2011 (The Fight Nerd)

– Photo Gallery: Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos Training for Hiroko Yamanaka (Lowkick.Blitzcorner.com)

– The 25 Most Outrageous MMA-Related Videos on YouTube (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

– Spike TV to Counter-Program ‘UFC on FOX 2′ With ‘UFC Unleashed: Evans vs. Davis’ (MMA Payout)

– Arianny Celeste: Chael Sonnen Is Very Polite To Me Backstage (FightLine)

– Keith Kizer: Urine Is ‘Obviously’ Better Than Blood for Steroid Testing (Fight Opinion)

– Dana White Sees Jon Jones as #2 Pound-for-Pound Fighter in the World (Five Ounces of Pain)

– Joseph Benavidez Inspired to Become a Great Champion in New UFC Flyweight Division (MMA Mania)

– Demian Maia: I Know I Can Submit Michael Bisping (MMAFighting)

– Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Avoids Surgery on Broken Arm (5th Round)

– Can Someone Please Help Felice Herrig With Her Wardrobe Malfunction? (MiddleEasy)

UFC Japan Show Will Be Counter-Programmed By UFC Las Vegas Show

(Sources inform us that the Octagon Girls for the UFC Japan show will be Chandella Powell, Rachelle Leah, and Hard Gay.)

So this is kinda weird. According to a new Yahoo! report, the UFC is planning to double-book themselves on the night of their February 26th return to Japan:

“When we go to Japan next year, we are going to be putting on a show at the same time in Las Vegas,” [Dana White] said…When asked how the company was going to handle a dual-show evening from a television standpoint, White just smiled and said, “You’ll see.”

Keep in mind that “you’ll see” may be code for “I have no fucking clue at this point.”

(Sources inform us that the Octagon Girls for the UFC Japan show will be Chandella Powell, Rachelle Leah, and Hard Gay.)

So this is kinda weird. According to a new Yahoo! report, the UFC is planning to double-book themselves on the night of their February 26th return to Japan:

Keep in mind that “you’ll see” may be code for “I have no fucking clue at this point.”

The UFC’s 2/26 Japan show is slated is kick off at 10 a.m. local time in order to have it sync up with the usual PPV start times in North America. Given the UFC’s new deals with FOX and Fuel, they certainly have the broadcast capabilities to pull off a simultaneous show in the States. The question is, why would they run simultaneous shows and risk splitting their audience? And considering that Burt Watson can’t be in two places at once, how can they pull it off logistically?

It’s impossible to guess what’s in DW’s head sometimes. Stay tuned.

Spike TV Playing Hardball With UFC; Dana White is Not Happy

(A woman scorned always has her revenge.)

It looks like Spike TV isn’t going to let the UFC walk away from their longtime liaison quietly.

Like a woman scorned , Spike will attempt to sabotage Zuffa’s burgeoning relationship with Fox by counter-programming the network’s first UFC event featuring a heavyweight tilt between Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos with a three-hour special “Dos Santos vs. Velasquez: Unleashed” series of shows according to MMA Junkie. The November 12 Unleashed Marathon will begin at 9:00 just as Fox’s inaugural UFC event is set to start.

According to the report, Spike owns the broadcast rights to the UFC library through 2012, and unless Zuffa buys back the rights the network will likely continue to counter-program Fox’s events for the next year. The catch 22 of the situation is that unless the UFC buys back the rights, Spike cannot air any other promotion’s events, which explains why it is only airing Bellator’s prelims on its website. The move could be a testing ground to see if there’s enough interest to move Bellator’s weekly events to the rotation when the UFC agreement expires.

(A woman scorned always has her revenge.)

It looks like Spike TV isn’t going to let the UFC walk away from their longtime liaison quietly.

Needless to say, Dana White is not impressed. During an interview he did with MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani last week, the UFC president pulled no punches when discussing the move by Spike to air Bellator fights on Spike.com, but added as a last f*ck you that Zuffa has no intention of buying the rights back from Spike.

“UFC programming will be on Spike in 2012. It will continue there. When you look at what I call ‘the spirit of the deal,’ [counter-programming] is the wrong thing to do. In my opinion, it’s Spike not being honorable. They’re not being honorable and they know. [Spike president] Kevin [Kay] knows; [Spike senior vice president of sports and specials] Brian [Diamond] — all the guys who have dealt with me at Spike TV — I’ve been nothing but honorable with them,” White explained. “Everything that I did was to build the UFC and Spike TV. I’ve been a fantastic partner. Whatever they needed from me I’ve done for them and helped them get to where they are today, just like they’ve helped us get to where we are today. And what they’re doing, if that’s the case, and they’re running [Bellator fights] on Spike.com, that’s not the spirit of the deal and they are being 100 percent not honorable.”