I still think the UFC and Viacom will settle. It's not in the UFC's interest to have Spike in a position to counter program Fox/Fx/Fuel programming. Dana White may have said otherwise, but he is known to bend the truth, and he likely wants to maintain leverage. One possibility that makes sense to me, however, is Bellator moving to the main MTV network for a year. They already have MMA programming in the form of Bully beatdown, and now a new MMA docuseries.
What's the big deal if Spike counters UFC programming on Fox/FX/Fuel with other UFC programming. Either way, it's people watching the UFC. At the same time, it prevents Bellator from being able to gain any traction among casual fans by keeping it on a fairly anonymous channel.
What's the big deal if Spike counters UFC programming on Fox/FX/Fuel with other UFC programming. Either way, it's people watching the UFC. At the same time, it prevents Bellator from being able to gain any traction among casual fans by keeping it on a fairly anonymous channel.
Because it will likely lower their rankings on their new channel if their audience is split.
Because it will likely lower their rankings on their new channel if their audience is split.
Which will in turn affect promotion for upcoming PPVs, and also will effect what the UFC can get money-wise in the future for a television deal. I think those are bigger issues than Bellator getting on Spike one year early.
So according to MMAjunkie, next year's Bellator will be on Friday nights.
I still don't think this is the best move, as mid-week makes more sense, but its a start. They did mention that TUF is moving to Friday nights as well though, so its not ideal.
Either way, its better than Saturdays and should create a bit more exposure.
I watched it. Underwhelming from Saunders and Askren but some good finishes outside of that. Ammoussou's (spelled wrong I'm sure) sweep off his back was awesome.
I'm finding it really hard to get into Bellator this year on Fridays. Score in Canada is doing a brutal job getting the fights on TV on Fridays. I have to constantly search where to find them on late Friday or Saturday, and by then I've probably found out whose won already.
They were great in past years, but this year has been a joke.
I'm finding it really hard to get into Bellator this year on Fridays. Score in Canada is doing a brutal job getting the fights on TV on Fridays. I have to constantly search where to find them on late Friday or Saturday, and by then I've probably found out whose won already.
They were great in past years, but this year has been a joke.
Oh, and the card this weak was pretty boring too.
I agree with all this.
I think it was a mistake to go to Friday night fights.
I'm finding it really hard to get into Bellator this year on Fridays. Score in Canada is doing a brutal job getting the fights on TV on Fridays. I have to constantly search where to find them on late Friday or Saturday, and by then I've probably found out whose won already.
They were great in past years, but this year has been a joke.
Oh, and the card this weak was pretty boring too.
You can stream the prelims & main card on spiketv.com
This weeks card looks incredible, on paper at least.
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Venue: I-X Center
Broadcast: MTV2 and Spike.com
MAIN CARD (MTV2)
Eddie Alvarez vs. Shinya Aoki
Brian Rogers vs. Andreas Spang - middleweight-tourney semifinal
Maiquel Falcao vs. Vyacheslav Vasilevsky - middleweight-tourney semifinal
Rick Hawn vs. Lloyd Woodard - lightweight-tourney semifinal
Thiago Michel vs. Brent Weedman - lightweight-tourney semifinal
Saturday, April 21 9PM ET – Bellator 66 – (Eddie Alvarez vs Shinya Aoki)
Sunday, April 22 8PM ET – Bellator 66 – (Eddie Alvarez vs Shinya Aoki)
Wednesday, April 25 4PM ET – Bellator 66 – (Eddie Alvarez vs Shinya Aoki)
