Zuffa has been on an anti-piracy jag for a long time now, and their support of the SOPA legislation has led to many problems for them. Today, the United States government took some steps that will undoubtedly please Dana White and company - they shut down a gaggle of streaming websites that broadcast UFC pay-per-views. Yahoo News has the info:

Three days before Super Bowl XLVI, U.S. prosecutors said they seized 16 websites that illegally streamed live sports and pay-per-view events over the Internet, and charged a Michigan man with running nine of those websites.

According to the government, the 16 websites provided links to give viewers easy access to other sites that hosted pirated telecasts from the National Football League, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, World Wrestling Entertainment Inc ("WWE") and TNA Impact Wrestling. The latter is also broadcast on Viacom Inc's Spike TV.

While the UFC isn't mentioned in the article by name, it is clearly one of the benefactors of these sites being shut down. The list of sites includes many that regularly stream UFC events illegally, and a couple of them are very popular. In the long run, people that are determined to stream events will find alternatives but at least for this weekend, it could affect many people hoping to catch UFC 143 for free.