More details on UFC-FOX deal
History is made...
On Thursday, the UFC finally confirmed its historic seven-year TV deal with FOX.
Here are the details, courtesy of F4WOnline.com.
Four live events per year on FOX, the first taking place on 11/12 from Anaheim, CA. It will be the first UFC show ever on network TV. Six live events per year on FX, similar to UFC Fight Night on Spike. The caliber of fights will be high on FOX shows. The Ultimate Fighter reality show during its two seasons will air on Fridays. UFC will tape footage all week and the fights on the show will now be live. All the regular programming such as Unleashed, Prime Time, Countdown shows, Best of Pride will move to FX and other FOX networks. They've been negotiating this deal hardcore for nine months, and has been well documented, with multiple networks. UFC will control the production of the shows, but they are going to make changes, including getting rid of the Gladiator open. Dana White: "I'm looking at this as a fresh start." FOX and FX will not only air fights, but also air pre and post-game shows before and after. FOX and FX will be in charge of the production, so they will have their own announcing crew. For the fights themselves, the idea is to keep Joe Rogan & Mike Goldberg together. The number of PPVs in 2012 will drop from 15 this year to 13 next year. Regarding FX not being in Canada, that is the case right now, but they are launching in Canada in November, so will be available by the time the new agreement goes into effect. As much as possible, they'd like the FOX shows to coincide with the PPV shows, shortly before so they can use the biggest exposure to push the PPVs. Ultimate Fighter starts in March on FX with a two hour special. The time slot is not determined so it's not a sure thing it will or won't go head-to-head with WWE's Friday Night Smackdown. Those aspects of the deal are not done. The show will be filmed in Las Vegas at the UFC Gym. As far as the live fights go, Dana White said they would most likely be done live from the gym, but that's not for sure. There is 0% chance of Brock Lesnar being on the 11/12 show. Lesnar will not even be cleared to go to the gym to start light conditioning training for three more weeks and the earliest he will fight is the early part of 2012. He did not rule out using some fighters and pulling matches on some of the shows tentatively booked for the fall to be on the 11/12 show. Said they are working on the main event right now and will announce it ASAP.
