UFC 72 to Air Live on Spike TV

[lilp86]

UFC 72 to Air Live on Spike TV
Posted by UFC Junkie on May 8, 2007 at 9:02 pm ET
Next month’s UFC 72 event, which now features a main event of former middleweight champion Rich Franklin vs. top contender Yushin Okami, will air on Spike TV. But unlike last month’s UFC 70 event, UFC 72 will air live from the Odyssey Arena in Belfast, Ireland.

That’s the word from UFC.com.

Although this is far from news to many readers, I’ve received more than a few emails asking how UFCjunkie.com will handle our coverage of UFC 72 on June 16. Some readers assumed the event would air via tape delay like last month’s UFC 70 event, which was held in Manchester, England.

However, a quick check of the “How to Watch” guide at UFC.com confirms that the event will air live on Spike TV and most other cable and pay-per-view providers in North America.

The broadcast kicks off at 3 p.m. ET, noon PT. (Belfast is five hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time.)

UFC 72, which is the first UFC event ever held in Ireland, was originally scheduled with a main event of Franklin vs. Danish kickboxer Martin Kampmann. However, the UFC announced yesterday that Kampmann had been scratched from the bout with a knee injury, and this morning, UFCjunkie.com passed along Franklin’s announcement that he would instead fight Okami.

UFC 72 also features The Ultimate Fighter 1 light heavyweight winner Forrest Griffin vs. Hector Ramirez, undefeated heavyweight Jake O’Brien vs. Tom Murphy, rising contender Marcus Davis vs. Paul Taylor, and Jason MacDonald vs. Rory Singer.

3 is kind of early but free sounds good to me

[Bullock]

They had the time set at 2:00pm EST before UFC 70 too.


So I don't think that that means it will be live, but I could be wrong. I think it is just a typo on the site.

Plus, it would do way better ratings if it were on @ 9pm like the last one.

I doubt it will be live when all is said and done, but I have been wrong before.

[lilp86]

Might show it live at 3 then replay it in primetime that would be great too

[Bullock]

Yeah, but I doubt they will.


I would be surprised if it was live. Pleasantly surprised

[2mcgrath]

this is good news to get another free ppv.im like you guys i dont think it will be live ethier.but hey im not complaining its free

[Bullock]

I doubt it would do too well on PPV w/ the card as is. Free TV was definitely the only logical choice.

[The Sundance Kid]

I would bet money that this will be aired from 9PM-12pm

[Dat Dude]

Does anyone know for sure if it is free or not? On the main site Matt Boone reported that the UFC 72 event page, which originally listed the event type as Spike TV, now says PPV. Is this just a mixup or are they charging now because they think the Okami vs. Franklin main event will be a big draw.