Comments made during FOX Sports’ press conference on its UFC deal were somewhat contradictory and confusing, but an official press release better clarifies the nature of UFC’s new television deal.
Under its partnership with FOX, UFC will air four live events on the broadcast network each year. The first card takes place on Saturday, November 12 at 9PM. An additional four-to-six live cards will air on FX each year.
“The Ultimate Fighter,” meanwhile, will begin airing on Fridays on FX in the spring of 2012. Beginning with that season, its fifteenth, the “TUF” competition will take place in real-time, a first for the show.
Instead of recording everything in advance, all of the “reality elements” will be filmed the week before the show airs. The tournament fights will then air live each week.
This also means the coaches will be preparing for their post-“TUF” fights in real-time, effectively using the workouts on the show as a training camp.
“Additional programming on multiple FOX networks launches January 2012 and includes live fights, pre and post shows, countdown shows, UFC Unleashed, UFC Primetime, the UFC Knockout series, Best of Pride, weigh-in specials, and much more original content from extensive Zuffa archives,” confirmed the release.
The pre- and post- shows were confirmed as airing on the Fuel TV network.
