Surprise! (Not really)
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is heading back to Spike TV for a special encore presentation of UFC 110: "Nogueira vs. Velasquez" to counter program the Strikeforce and CBS "Saturday Night Fights" event from Nashville when the two run head-to-head on Saturday, April 17 at 9:00 p.m. ET.
Ladies and gentlemen, set your DVR's.
Originally airing on pay-per-view (PPV) back in February, UFC 110 marked the Las Vegas-based promotion's debut "Down Under" at the Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia.
Select bouts from that event scheduled to air on the cable television network on April 17 are as follows:
* Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez
* Wanderlei Silva vs. Michael Bisping
* Joe Stevenson vs. George Sotiropoulos
* Keith Jardine vs. Ryan Bader
* Mirko Cro Cop vs. Anthony Perosh
* Chris Lytle vs. Brian Foster
Zuffa was rumored to make its own appearance in "Music City" in an effort to not only hurt television ratings, but to impact the ticket sales of its San Jose rivals. While UFC President Dana White later called the trip "all talk," there was little doubt the Octagon would be appearing on television in one form or another to counter program Strikeforce.
And it wouldn't be the first time.
Spike TV debuted UFC 94: "St. Pierre vs. Penn 2" to run head-to-head against "Shamrock vs. Diaz" back on April 11, 2009, and then put UFC 100 up against "Carano vs. Cyborg" later that summer.
Strikeforce can be now be considered a major player in mixed martial arts with its signing of free agents Fedor Emelianenko and Dan Henderson, as well as its recent cable and network television deals.
While UFC President Dana White has long supported the efforts of Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker, he is now at war with "Strikefarce" since they entered the proverbial big stage.
To see how the "Nashville" card stacks up to the UFC repeat, click here.
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