UFC Takes on Strikeforce, Will Air Brock Lesnar-Frank Mir Fight on Spike

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is raising the stakes in its fight with rival MMA promotion Strikeforce, announcing that it will air the Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir UFC 100 fight on Spike Saturday night -- at the same time that Gina Carano is fighting Cris Cyborg on Showtime.

Lesnar-Mir at UFC 100 was the single biggest pay-per-view draw in the promotion's history, and for the UFC to give the fight away for free five weeks later is unusual. But what's not unusual is for the UFC to fight like crazy when another promotion is challenging it: When Affliction did its first pay-per-view show a year ago, the UFC put on a live show on Spike at the same time.

Five other UFC 100 fights will air on Spike Saturday night as well: Dan Henderson vs. Michael Bisping, Alan Belcher vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama, Stephan Bonnar vs. Mark Coleman, Shannon Gugerty vs. Matt Grice and Jon Jones vs. Jake O'Brien. Three of those (Bonnar-Coleman, Gugerty-Grice and Jones-O'Brien) did not air on the UFC 100 pay-per-view, meaning even fans who have already watched UFC 100 will be interested in tuning in. The co-main event, Georges St. Pierre vs. Thiago Alves, will not be shown on Spike, indicating that the UFC is saving that one for a future show.

And this is just the start of a larger war between the UFC and Strikeforce. After Fedor Emelianenko spurned the UFC's offer and signed with Strikeforce instead, UFC President Dana White made no secret that he was furious about it. You can bet that when Fedor makes his Strikeforce debut in October, the UFC will do something big.

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

8-12-2009 @ 10:59AM

RJ said...

Let's see watch a great night of live fights on Showtime or watch a replay of a fight I already know the outcome of and that was a one sided beating.
Tough decision.

8-19-2009 @ 2:52PM

Eric said...

As everyone probably knows by now, the rerun of UFC 100 received a larger audience than the Carano/Cyborg card on Showtime.

Much like a game of texas hold'em, the player with the chip lead has a big advantage before the cards are even dealt.

8-12-2009 @ 11:09AM

kevin said...

haha at ufc why would anyone wanna watch a rerun over a live card who knows there will be people recording it but thats it sorry dana

8-12-2009 @ 11:45AM

Joe said...

I love the UFC but I dislike the guys running it. Dana is constantly putting down other organizations and trying to put them out of bussiness. Not everyone wants to be owned by Dana so having other organizations is good for MMA. Dana puts them down but is always after their fighters. It might make good business sense to try to put them out of business but I think for MMA and the fans it is bad. The UFC does have most of the best fighters but not all of them. What happens is Dana tries to get the best fighters from other promotions and I think it is funny that Fedor went elsewhere. Yeah I would love to see Fedor give Lesnar a beat down as much as anybody but to see Dana not get his way is pretty funny. Not everybody wants to be owned by Dana and the UFC. It's not about the fighters or the sport of MMA. It's about money to Dana.

8-12-2009 @ 12:28PM

john said...

Thank you Dana for putting this re-run in place. Not everybody could see UFC 100 live but even after the 10th watch, it'll be better than StrikeFarce. And who has ShoeTime anyway. It's a terrible channel and anybody who pays for it needs to get their heads checked. StrikeFarce had an OK card like 3 weeks ago, but unless Fedor comes in and dances naked, I won't be watching StrikeFarce.

8-12-2009 @ 1:13PM

Right john Spike is such a better cable channel than Showtime I mean what's playing right before and after this UFC replay on Spike Manswers or World's Wildest Chases?

Compared to Emmy winning series and Hit movies commercial free.

Right Spike is much better, and nothing like being a puppet of Dana White calling it Strikefarce so original it's something a fifth grader would say.
I bet you called Tom Atencio T-Shirt guy like Dana did too.
Oh wait a minute you might be a fifth grader or at least have the mentality of one. Grow up.

8-12-2009 @ 12:50PM

gillygodfried said...

you guys are jerks

8-12-2009 @ 1:18PM

Michael Dailey said...

Strikeforce is going to be disappointed. I doubt I'd watch this show if it was on free TV, I'm sure as hell not going to buy Showtime to watch it or any of their shows.

8-12-2009 @ 1:27PM

Well you're obviously not a big fan of the sport.
I doubt Showtime is expecting non MMA fans to call up and order Showtime to watch fights when they're not fans of the sport.

8-12-2009 @ 1:24PM

I can't wait until StrikeFarce joins the T-shirt guys. I bet Scott Corker makes a great janitor for the UFC. Once StrikeForce and M1 are out of business, Fedor will have no choice but to show up and get knocked out. And then, Dana will cut him and send him back to his village.

Strikefarce and Shoetime both are terrible and a match made in heaven. Mark my words, once Gina or Fedor lose, StrikeForce will go under! And I'll be dancing in the streets.

GTFO Troll!

8-12-2009 @ 1:30PM

chilly16 said...

There are countless sites that you could view these fights on for free already. Anyone who was interested in seeing the fights has already watched them. Sad attempt Mr. WHite

8-12-2009 @ 1:32PM

Im surprised the whole Nick Diaz drug test scandal didn't topple the organization. This isn't a troll comment, its how all the other small guys fell, no?

8-12-2009 @ 1:46PM

claytor said...

Wow, is anyone surprised by this? because its not mob tactics at all. Does the NHL try and air games from this past season on Russia networks opposite KHL game times? No. Did the NFL try to strong arm the XFL? No. Does MLB air classic games while Japans major league plays? No.

I really believe White should be investigated for this. Its calling Monopolizing. Last i checked in this country, its illegal to use similar tactics in an effort to corner a particular market, and considering its one the UFC didnt even really invent, they dont even have the patent for it.

I for one, support MMA, not the UFC, i will watch the Strikeforce show, as i did the WEC show, or any show that tries to put on an MMA event.

For the noobs? MMA does not = UFC

White = classless, though.

8-12-2009 @ 1:59PM

spicsapian said...

who cares who wins .... mma is just i better version of wwf. most of the fans are drunken ex wwf fans looking for somone to get killed or crippled in the ring... anybody can become an mma fighter.. anyone.. anybody that can street fight qualifies. dont take much to use elbows and knees and choke poeple out. i dont really see much skill in mma fighting. the poeple who do it try to say theres lots of skill to it. but they have to say that to make it more than what it really is.. 2 guys street fighting. and to watch these fights after 2 minutes is very boring. watching to men lying on the floor for 2 whole minutes trying to elbow strike eachother is really boring. me and millions of other real fight fans feel this way.. i think its a fad that wil pass when poeple realize how boreing this sport really is..

8-12-2009 @ 2:15PM

Strikeforce should have stayed the way they were. Now they gonna pay. I think every MMA fan's dream is to see best fighters fight the best. With StrikeForce stealing one or two fighters here or there, we won't see that. I do think Dana should have let Gina go to WEC but he made a mistake. Oh well. I think not a lot of people will watch StrikeForce. SF as become very arrogant just like M1 and let's hope they all go down so we get those dream matches. I am not pro Dana or anything. I just want to see super fights! Machida Fedor. Lesnar Overeem. Mousasi Silva.

8-12-2009 @ 3:14PM

Ohio Cannibal said...

Apparently I am a "fan of UFC". I didn't realize wanting to see great fights made me less of a fan of MMA. I love watching good MMA, but I'm not going to subscribe to Showtime to watch this card. This card has one fight that is good IMO (and it's not the women's fight). I guess the UFC has spoiled me because I enjoy their free shows on Spike more than I have any other company's PPV's. I like the WEC also, but it's pretty much the UFC IMO since they are owned by the same company and don't compete for fighters.

As for the whole monopoly business I hear people complaining about, shut up. There is one football league, one baseball league, one basketball league, etc in the United States. Sure there have been some smaller organizations, but there is a big dog in every sport. Why? Because people want to see the best compete against the best. Personally I hate boxing because of all the leagues and belts and managers. I thought we were going to see a perfect situation when Affliction fell. I expected UFC to sign the few top fighters they didn't have and have Strikeforce be the minor leagues. But when Strikeforce started signing fighters that the UFC wanted, what should the UFC do? Sit on their hands and watch a competitor try to challenge them? A competitor with a large platform to build itself (Showtime), not a PPV only brand. Personally I would love to see the UFC run Strikeforce out of business and have all the best fighters (in the US - no need competing with Dream, etc as long as they don't try to take away the best fighters). Then have the UFC do a monthly free show for their up and comers, and the monthly PPV's for the titles and stars. This way we get two good shows a month and get to see the best matchups.

8-12-2009 @ 3:19PM

Couldn't agree more. Let's not go the way of boxing. let's consolidate, put all the fighters on the same brand and have some super fights. Die Strikeforce! Please die!

8-12-2009 @ 4:02PM

"(in the US - no need competing with Dream, etc as long as they don't try to take away the best fighters)."

You mean like how the UFC flim flammed the people who run Dream, who happened to also run PRIDE, out its best fighters?

Im confused...why should people shut up about monopolizing? Because the truth is monopolizing is wrong? And who decided the UFC is the benchmark? They built their roster from fighters who were in OTHER organizations. Please quit acting like the UFC built it from homegrown talent, and are now the greatest thing ever. They reneged on their agreement with PRIDE, absorbed those fighters, and now pretend to you and people who have no freaking idea what the hell theyre talking about that the UFC was the only place who ever had MMA fighters. They cast a lot of fighters aside, talked a ton of crap about a lot of them, then when they were able to have them back again, its all water under the bridge. The UFCs "best" fighter was a PRIDE jobber, who held a .500 record. They bring in a bunch of heavyweights Fedor beat three to five years ago, and its the UFC thats relevant?

Great ppvs? the last few ppvs were abysmal, to say the least, and uh, they have a tv deal as well, so not sure on how Showtime has given Strikeforce an edge. Strikeforce doesnt do ppvs, i guess the UFC is being greedy? See how that works?

Youre obviously NOT a fan of MMA if you consider it to be only the UFC. Its that simple. Youre a fan of the UFC, and its really easy to be convinced of someones worth from one particular global placement.

8-13-2009 @ 12:48AM

johnnynumber5 said...

@Ohio Cannibal

It is confusing to me that you will gladly pay $50-$100/month on UFC PPV's but not an extra $5-$10/month for a Showtime package.

Do you not see the direct benefit from Strikeforce competing with the UFC? It's only because of Strikeforce that Dana is willing to put UFC 100 for free in Spike. It's certainly not out of the kindness of his heart because he loves the fans.

It sounds to me you are a fan of the UFC not MMA. This whole notion that
Strikeforce is "stealing" fighters is laughable. Dana had every chance to sign the same exact fighters. Do you expect Strikeforce to turn tail and run every time there is a big name free agent in MMA?

Don't be such a Lestard.

The reason there is only one NFL, NBA and MLB league in The United States is because those organizations have anti-trust exemptions. If Dana keeps going down the path of strong arming other organizations and fighters you will either see a change in the business model to allow competition or the UFC will get an anti-trust exemption like the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL etc etc ...

Fight fans and consumers benefit from Strikeforce bening relevant in the marketplace. It makes it so that the UFC has to incentivize zealotry from it's rabbid casual fans base.