UFC Booking Update: Lineker vs. Harris, Manuwa vs. Jimmo Added to Fight Night 30 in Manchester


(Clearly, Kingsbu zigged when he should have zagged. / Image via Getty)

The UFC’s return to Manchester on October 26th (aka UFC Fight Night 30) is continuing its “UK vs. the World” theme with two more interesting matchups. In addition to the Bisping vs. Munoz headliner and Guillard vs. Pearson co-main, UFC officials have confirmed that Brazilian flyweight contender John Lineker will compete on the card against England’s own Phil Harris.

Lineker and Harris were originally supposed to meet at UFC 163 last weekend, but Harris had to withdraw due to a training injury, and was replaced by Jose Maria. Lineker beat Maria by second-round TKO, bumping his UFC record to 3-0. Now, the Lineker/Harris matchup has been rescheduled on the Brit’s home turf. Assuming he actually makes weight this time, an impressive win for Lineker here could clinch him a flyweight title shot.

Also on the UFC Fight Night 30 card, a light-heavyweight matchup between undefeated Nigerian-English juggernaut Jimi Manuwa and breakdancing-Canadian Ryan Jimmo is also being targeted for the event. In 13 professional fights, Manuawa has never let an opponent see the third round; his two UFC appearances resulted in a TKO win due to doctor’s stoppage against Kyle Kingsbury and a TKO win due to injury against Cyrille Diabaté.

Jimmo recently bounced back to the win column with a decision win against Igor Pokrajac at UFC 161. He’ll surely be the underdog in this fight, but he might be able to slow Manauwa’s pace with his wrestling long enough to land one big shot. If you’ve got predictions, let ’em rip…


(Clearly, Kingsbu zigged when he should have zagged. / Image via Getty)

The UFC’s return to Manchester on October 26th (aka UFC Fight Night 30) is continuing its “UK vs. the World” theme with two more interesting matchups. In addition to the Bisping vs. Munoz headliner and Guillard vs. Pearson co-main, UFC officials have confirmed that Brazilian flyweight contender John Lineker will compete on the card against England’s own Phil Harris.

Lineker and Harris were originally supposed to meet at UFC 163 last weekend, but Harris had to withdraw due to a training injury, and was replaced by Jose Maria. Lineker beat Maria by second-round TKO, bumping his UFC record to 3-0. Now, the Lineker/Harris matchup has been rescheduled on the Brit’s home turf. Assuming he actually makes weight this time, an impressive win for Lineker here could clinch him a flyweight title shot.

Also on the UFC Fight Night 30 card, a light-heavyweight matchup between undefeated Nigerian-English juggernaut Jimi Manuwa and breakdancing-Canadian Ryan Jimmo is also being targeted for the event. In 13 professional fights, Manuawa has never let an opponent see the third round; his two UFC appearances resulted in a TKO win due to doctor’s stoppage against Kyle Kingsbury and a TKO win due to injury against Cyrille Diabaté.

Jimmo recently bounced back to the win column with a decision win against Igor Pokrajac at UFC 161. He’ll surely be the underdog in this fight, but he might be able to slow Manauwa’s pace with his wrestling long enough to land one big shot. If you’ve got predictions, let ‘em rip…

Michael Bisping and Mark Munoz to Headline UFC Event on FOX Sports 2, Which Is a Real Channel, Apparently


(…and be sure to stay tuned after the fights for the premiere of Bisping’s gritty new crime drama, Two Blokes and a Wanker. / Photo via @bisping)

The rumors were halfway true: Yes, UFC middleweights Michael Bisping and Mark Munoz will face off in the main event of the promotion’s return to Manchester, England, on October 26th. The UFC confirmed the booking on Saturday, although no other matchups have been officially announced for the card.

Here’s where things get a little strange. Contrary to initial reports, the event will not air on FOX Sports 1 (which is launching on August 17th to replace The Speed Channel), but instead on FOX Sports 2 (which will be replacing FUEL). It’s odd, because we thought the whole point of the UFC moving its cable events to FOX Sports 1 was to have all of those fight cards and prelim broadcasts in the same place. No longer would fans have to switch between FX and FUEL, in addition to keeping track of which fights are on FOX and pay-per-view. (And Facebook!) Fox Sports 2 was originally announced as a “general sports channel,” but now that channel is showing UFC fights too?

The UFC recently declared that its FOX Sports 1 events would henceforth be known as “Fight Night” events — just like their old Spike TV cards — which streamlines the naming process and prevents snot-nosed bloggers like us from making more jokes about it. (i.e., “UFC on FOX Sports 1 2: Condit vs. Kampmann 2: 2 Cute 2B 4Gotten.”) The problem is, calling an event “UFC Fight Night 30: Bisping vs. Munoz” doesn’t indicate which channel it’s on, which could be confusing if there are multiple destinations for UFC cable content.

At this point, we don’t know if the event’s placement on FOX Sports 2 is only a one-off decision, perhaps made because of the card’s impending garbage-ass-ness. We’ll update you when we know more.


(…and be sure to stay tuned after the fights for the premiere of Bisping’s gritty new crime drama, Two Blokes and a Wanker. / Photo via @bisping)

The rumors were halfway true: Yes, UFC middleweights Michael Bisping and Mark Munoz will face off in the main event of the promotion’s return to Manchester, England, on October 26th. The UFC confirmed the booking on Saturday, although no other matchups have been officially announced for the card.

Here’s where things get a little strange. Contrary to initial reports, the event will not air on FOX Sports 1 (which is launching on August 17th to replace The Speed Channel), but instead on FOX Sports 2 (which will be replacing FUEL). It’s odd, because we thought the whole point of the UFC moving its cable events to FOX Sports 1 was to have all of those fight cards and prelim broadcasts in the same place. No longer would fans have to switch between FX and FUEL, in addition to keeping track of which fights are on FOX and pay-per-view. (And Facebook!) Fox Sports 2 was originally announced as a “general sports channel,” but now that channel is showing UFC fights too?

The UFC recently declared that its FOX Sports 1 events would henceforth be known as “Fight Night” events — just like their old Spike TV cards — which streamlines the naming process and prevents snot-nosed bloggers like us from making more jokes about it. (i.e., “UFC on FOX Sports 1 2: Condit vs. Kampmann 2: 2 Cute 2B 4Gotten.”) The problem is, calling an event “UFC Fight Night 30: Bisping vs. Munoz” doesn’t indicate which channel it’s on, which could be confusing if there are multiple destinations for UFC cable content.

At this point, we don’t know if the event’s placement on FOX Sports 2 is only a one-off decision, perhaps made because of the card’s impending garbage-ass-ness. We’ll update you when we know more.