In its latest counter-programming move, the Ultimate Fighting Championship will air a replay of May’s UFC 113 pay-per-view event for free on Spike TV on June 26 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
The event featured the long-anticipated rematch between then-UFC light-heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida and challenger Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.
The replay counters a live Showtime broadcast of “Strikeforce and M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Werdum,” which is headlined by famed heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko vs. Fabricio Werdum live from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.
The Showtime broadcast, which airs at 10 p.m. ET/PT, also features Strikeforce middleweight champ Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos vs. Jan Finney, Cung Le vs. Scott Smith, and Josh Thomson vs. Pat Healy.
In addition to Machida vs. “Shogun” II, the replay of UFC 113, which took place at Montreal’s Bell Centre, features bouts such as Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson vs. Matt Mitrione, Sam Stout vs. Jeremy Stephens, Joe Doerksen vs. Tom Lawlor, Marcus Davis vs. Jonathan Goulet and Patrick Cote vs. Alan Belcher.
Spike TV, the UFC’s cable home since 2005, began counter-programming in 2008 when UFC Fight Night 14 went head-to-head with “Affliction: Banned.”
Since striking a deal with CBS and Showtime, though, Strikeforce has since been a frequent target of the UFC’s counter-programming. For example, Strikeforce’s first CBS-televised event, “Fedor vs. Rogers” in November, went against a “UFC Main Events” two-hour special that featured four major bouts from the UFC’s 2009 calendar. Additionally, May’s “Strikeforce St. Louis: Heavy Artillery” Showtime broadcast went up against a “UFC Ultimate Fights” special on Spike TV that featured some of the top UFC fights from 2010.
