UFC 70 GOES SPIKE TV PRIMETIME

By Loretta Hunt

While time zones have proved a prominent problem for the Ultimate Fighting Championship in recent weeks as it prepares for UFC 70 “Nations Collide,” live from the Manchester Evening News Arena in England; the Las Vegas-based organization has figured out a way to get a handful of that night’s fights back to its stateside consumer.

Rather than place the night’s nine scheduled bouts in a tape delayed pay-per-view format in the U.S., four to five bouts from UFC 70 will be telecast on April 21 beginning at 9 PM ET/PT on Spike TV, including the featured main event between Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and Gabriel Gonzaga which will determine the next contender for UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture’s crown.

The seven-hour delayed telecast will also feature the heavyweight bout between Andrei Arlovski and recent PRIDE acquisition Fabricio Werdum, as well as the local-inspired bout between “The Ultimate Fighter” season three victor and Clithoroe native Michael Bisping, who takes on Australia’s Elvis Sinosic.