ESPN to show UFC in the UK

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/sport/...n-the-uk-tv-deal-with-espnbut-more-will-come/

ESPN has become the new home of the UFC in the UK and Ireland. Here are the main points:

ESPN will screen all UFC events live, starting with the explosive UFC 101: DECLARATION on Saturday August 8 and followed on August 22 by UFC 102: COUTURE v NOGUEIRA.

It will also screen UFC Fight Nights – beginning with the September 16 card headlined by Nate Diaz v Melvin Guillard – as well regular programming from the world’s premier combat sport.

ESPN launches August 3 on both the Sky and Virgin platforms in the UK and Ireland and, for the first month is FREE to all viewers, meaning everyone with Sky or Virgin can watch both UFC 101 and UFC 102 free of charge.

Sky Sports viewers can subscribe to ESPN for £9 per month, and viewers without Sky Sports can subscribe for £11.

In addition to all live UFC events from around the world, ESPN will also screen UFC Unleashed every Thursday at 10pm, allowing fans to relive the greatest fights in UFC history.

UFC UK Division President Marshall Zelaznik said: “We are ecstatic to announce that ESPN is the new home of the UFC in the UK and Ireland. ESPN is one of the most trusted and respected brands in all of sports broadcasting, and we are thrilled to be working with them as they launch their new channel in the UK and Ireland. “Over the last three years, the UFC has become as big a part of the sporting landscape in the British Isles as football and rugby, and for the worldwide leader in sports broadcasting came to us and we were able to reach an agreement so quickly is another testament that the UFC is an important part of the British sporting calendar.”

Behind the scenes I understand there will be more announcements to come, potentially involving even greater coverage of UFC events, and I would expect ESPN to create either a weekly or fortnightly magazine show down the line to cater for the growing UK and Eire audience.