UFC Counter-Programs Affliction to Death

by Chris Nelson on Jul 17, 2008 11:12 AM EDT in News Comment 14 comments

Check out SpikeTV's schedule for July 19th:

4:00 PM EST / 1:00 PM PST
UFC Unleashed
Martin Kampmann vs. Drew McFedries (UFC 68)
Marcus Davis vs. Jason Tan (UFC 72)
Rich Franklin vs. Jason McDonald (UFC 68)
Anderson Silva vs. Travis Lutter (UFC 67)

5:00 PM EST / 2:00 PM PST
UFC Unleashed
Jason Lambert vs. Renato "Babalu" Sobral (UFC 68)
Houston Alexander vs. Keith Jardine (UFC 71)
Brandon Vera vs. Justin Eilers (UFC 57)
Assuerio Silva vs. Frank Mir (???)

6:00 PM EST / 3:00 PM PST
UFC Unleashed
Frank Edgar vs. Tyson Griffin (UFC 67)
Dave Terrell vs. Matt Lindland (UFC 49)
Spencer Fisher vs. Thiago Alves (UFN 2)

7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
UFC Countdown: Silva vs. Irvin

8:00 PM EST / 5:00 PM PST
UFC: Ultimate Knockouts 5

9:00 PM EST / 6:00 PM PST
UFC: Silva vs. Irvin
Anderson Silva vs. James Irvin
Brandon Vera vs. Reese Andy
Hermes Franca vs. Frank Edgar
Cain Velasquez vs. Jake O'Brien
Anthony Johnson vs. Kevin Burns
Jesse Taylor vs. C.B. Dollaway

I guess it's technically only "counter-programming" if your competition is airing something at the same time, but by flooding the day with fights -- and presumably ads for the live show during every commercial break -- the UFC has all but guaranteed that any casual fans channel-surfing on Saturday afternoon will be watching their event come Saturday night. It's an especially shrewd tactic to draw in viewers on the West Coast, where the show will begin airing in an unusually early timeslot.

It's also the first time on Spike for Ultimate Knockouts 5, which dropped on DVD in early June and features about 30 highlights. This will most likely be a pared-down version, and something tells me that we'll be seeing stuff like Silva/Leben and Vera/Eilers on the broadcast version as opposed to, say, Arlovski/Sylvia II.

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Comments

Arlovski/Sylvia II.

That was one sweet knockout at UFC: Reality Check. Just saw it again and thought, “Affliction may be on to something with these guys.”

by thetakeover on Jul 17, 2008 11:49 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

How many PPV buys?

Seriously, how many PPV buys you think Affliction is going to get?

by MrNiceGuyMMA on Jul 17, 2008 11:58 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

200K

by steak_knife on Jul 17, 2008 1:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Seriously?

by lovingmma25 on Jul 17, 2008 2:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Take a zero off that and I think it’s much closer.

by Chris Nelson on Jul 17, 2008 3:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ouch.

Intentional Blog on Balls

by Richard Wade on Jul 17, 2008 4:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

In the words of Austin Powers

Yeah Baby!

by lovingmma25 on Jul 17, 2008 4:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

100K?

by steak_knife on Jul 17, 2008 10:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Give credit where credit it due

This is smart, UFC is taking no chances. There is a reason they are #1; this is one of them.

by lovingmma25 on Jul 17, 2008 12:05 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Revisit this headline again in a few months, it could be very foresighted.

UFC very well may put Affliction in its grave, though i hope there is room for all the promotions.

"They said you was hung!!"

"And they was RIGHT!"

by BJJDenver on Jul 17, 2008 12:18 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

UFC Unleashed
Frank Edgar vs. Tyson Griffin (UFC 67)
Dave Terrell vs. Matt Lindland (UFC 49)
Spencer Fisher vs. Thiago Alves (UFN 2)

Bull. I’ve watched this episode three or four times hoping to see Terrell v. Lindland, and every time it’s Bisping v. Schafer or something like that.

Putting Lindland on the day of Affliction is probably not the best idea ever. Not that watching him lose will send viewers rushing to order the Affliction show, but still.

by Brett Jones on Jul 17, 2008 12:36 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs