UFC 103 undercard to be shown on Spike
by Zak Woods on Aug 21, 2009 8:59 AM EDT
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The UFC is preparing to counter program another event not named Strikeforce. The UFC will show UFC 103's mammoth eight fight undercard on Spike TV for free.
Why is Zuffa offering fans the chance to see Paul Daley, Cole Miller and Rob Emerson for free? It's because of Golden Boy Promotions and their boxing fight card which features Floyd "Money" Mayweather Jr. Oh yeah, the Golden Boy card and the UFC card are going head-to-head on PPV. This is high stakes for both the UFC and boxing. While each side often states that they aren't in competition, both sides would jump at the chance to claim the position of top PPV draw. In the blood sport of media relations September 19th is a very important date.
While this is a very creative marketing move on Zuffa's part WKR is not quite sure how a preliminary card with the best fight (on paper) being Cole Miller vs. Efrain Escudero is really going to draw in more PPV buys.
The UFC 103 preliminary fights are listed below.
- Efrain Escudero vs. Cole Miller
- Jim Miller vs. TBA
- Dan Lauzon vs. Rafaello Oliveira
- Paul Daley vs. Brian Foster
- Tomasz Drwal vs. Drew McFedries
- Jason Brilz vs. Eliot Marshall
- Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Igor Pokrajac
- Rafael dos Anjos vs. Rob Emerson
Main Card
- Vitor Belfort vs. Rich Franklin
- Junior Dos Santos vs. Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic
- Martin Kampmann vs. Mike Swick
- Josh Koscheck vs. Frank Trigg
- Hermes Franca vs. Tyson Griffin
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I don’t know if it will draw more PPV buys but it couldn’t hurt. Plus, I’m for anything that might even remotely take money out of the pockets of Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Oscar De La Hoya, since I can’t stand either of them. In the end, it’s still a cool gesture to the fans by the UFC, no matter the primary motive.
One thing that helps the UFC a ton, and has been overlooked by both boxing and MMA media, is that HBO shows their PPV fights on HBO a week after the fight. Personally, I can avoid boxing news sites for 6 days and still watch the fight fresh. I’m just hoping they show the Rocky Juarez/Chris John rematch on HBO as well. I’m more interesting in that than Mayweather vs Marquez.
I love the move and think it is bloody brilliant in the sense it gets us talking and adds an extra dimension to the story line.
Yet there is risk also. If you put half your card up for free and under draw Mayweather on PPV then you know GB/boxing people will be pointing to this for years to come.
But at the same time, unless some crazy shit happens do you think someone watching Escudero-Miller will be like, you know I wasnt going to get this card but I think I will now.
Also it sucks for the Dallas fans with tickets unless it is blacked out there….
watchkalibrun.com
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