The UFC and Fox officially announced their new television partnership on Thursday and confirmed details on their new programming under the deal, including the first UFC on Fox event scheduled for November 12 and The Ultimate Fighter moving to FX with a new, live format in the spring.
The deal includes four live events on Fox and four to six events on FX each year, while two seasons of The Ultimate Fighter will also air on FX each year.
The Ultimate Fighter will now be filmed over 13 weeks and edited in real time before airing on Friday nights followed by a live fight. Fans will now be able to vote on each week’s matchups, while the extended taping will see The Ultimate Fighter coaches hold their training camps alongside the show.
Between the six UFC Fight Night events and 26 Ultimate Fighter bouts each year, FX will show live UFC fights up to 32 weeks of the year.
The November 12 card does not yet have a main event, but is expected to take place in Anaheim, California just one week before the UFC hosts UFC 139 on November 19 in San Jose featuring heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos.
FUEL TV will now be home to UFC Prelims, which previously aired on Spike TV, while the network will also host pre- and post-fight shows for the UFC’s Fox, FX, and pay-per-view events. Additional programming will launch across the Fox networks in January 2012.
Specific terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the agreement is estimated to be worth $90 million per year over seven or eight years.
The deal includes four live events on Fox and four to six events on FX each year, while two seasons of The Ultimate Fighter will also air on FX each year.
The Ultimate Fighter will now be filmed over 13 weeks and edited in real time before airing on Friday nights followed by a live fight. Fans will now be able to vote on each week’s matchups, while the extended taping will see The Ultimate Fighter coaches hold their training camps alongside the show.
Between the six UFC Fight Night events and 26 Ultimate Fighter bouts each year, FX will show live UFC fights up to 32 weeks of the year.
The November 12 card does not yet have a main event, but is expected to take place in Anaheim, California just one week before the UFC hosts UFC 139 on November 19 in San Jose featuring heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos.
FUEL TV will now be home to UFC Prelims, which previously aired on Spike TV, while the network will also host pre- and post-fight shows for the UFC’s Fox, FX, and pay-per-view events. Additional programming will launch across the Fox networks in January 2012.
Specific terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the agreement is estimated to be worth $90 million per year over seven or eight years.