Spike TV announced on Monday they will broadcast “UFC 110: Nogueira vs. Velaszuez” on Saturday, April 17, at 9:00pm ET/PT. This will be the first free network broadcast of UFC 110, which initially aired on pay-per-view on Feb. 20, 2010.
Not so coincidentally, “Strikeforce: Nashville” will be airing live on CBS at the exact same time, featuring former UFC middleweight star Dan Henderson in the main event, taking on Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields.
“Strikeforce: Nashville” will take place at Bridgestone Arena in downtown Nashville, Tenn. Aside from the main event middleweight title fight, there will be a lightweight title fight featuring Strikeforce champ Gilbert Melendez vs. Japanese star Shinya Aoki, and a light heavyweight title fight featuring champion Gegard Mousasi vs. Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal.
Initially there had been rumors the Ultimate Fighting Championship was planning to hold an event in Nashville on the very same night as Strikeforce, which would have definitely cut into the profits of the San Jose based MMA promotion.
“UFC 110: Nogueira vs. Velasquez” took place at Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia. The Spike TV telecast will feature the following bouts:
- Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez
- Wanderlei Silva vs. Michael Bisping
- Joe Stevenson vs. George Sotiropoulos
- Keith Jardine vs. Ryan Bader
- Mirko Cro Cop vs. Anthony Perosh
- Chris Lytle vs. Brian Foster
Although UFC President Dana White has made it clear he does not view Strikeforce as a legitimate competitor, anytime there is a live Strikeforce event on network television, it is safe to assume there will be UFC programming of some sort on at the same time on Spike TV.
If the UFC really wants to stir things up (and confuse the casual fan), instead of airing UFC 110 on April 17, they could air “UFC 93: Franklin vs. Henderson”, with Dan Henderson taking on Rich Franklin in the main event.