UFC splits from Setanta

(added to the front page by Zak Woods)

After months of financial turmoil, the UFC have split from Setanta Sports and will be looking for a new TV deal. Setanta recently lost all the Premier league rights they had, which were snapped up by ESPN. This will mean that they will lose the vast majority of their subscribers overnight and it's almost certian they'll go into administration. The news was broken by UFC UK president Marshall Zelasnick to Fighter's Only

UFC UK Division President Marshall Zelaznik said: "It was with great regret that the UFC ended its relationship with Setanta. Over the last two years, Setanta has helped the UFC become the biggest indoor sporting event in the British Isles.

"They were the right partner for us at the right time as we continued to build the sport of mixed martial arts and our brand.

"Throughout the last few weeks we have been kept informed of the situation at Setanta and therefore we are in a position to ensure our UK and Eire fans will not miss any of this summer’s huge UFC events, commencing with UFC 100 in July.

"We will be announcing the new home of UFC shortly but assure our fans they won’t miss any of the upcoming super-fights."

This has been coming for a while. It's a very sad day for Irish and British MMA fans. Setanta did put a lot of promotional muscle behind the UFC and increased the popularity of MMA in Europe significantly as a result. The most likely options for replacement deal are Sky Sports or Virgin TV, who also ran TUF 9. Hopefully the UFC finds a home soon. It's worth mentioning Setanta are still up and running right now, perhaps hodling out for a new buyer after their takeover deal with Len Blavatnik's Access Industries fell through.

Update: Setanta have gone into administration (bankruptcy) and have been pulled off the air. That’s a wrap folks