The Oct. 16 event, which took place at The 02 in London, set a UFC-European attendance record (17,133) as British star Michael Bisping (20-3) earned a decision win over Yoshihiro Akiyama (13-3) in the headliner.
Sadly, though, most American fight fans knew the results of the overseas show long before the event aired on Spike TV via delay. After all, just about every other major market — including those in Europe and Canada — got live feeds. The U.S., though, waited five hours.
But thanks to an Internet-savvy fan base with easy access to both the fight results and illegal video streams — and ESPN’s live-ticker updates that ran throughout the afternoon — spoilers were hard to avoid.
Unlike pay-per-view offerings, which air both live and via delay in the U.S., Spike TV prefers to air its two or three annual overseas shows via delay to get primetime audiences (and advertisers). But perhaps more than ever, American fans have grown tired of the spoilers.
And it’s not a problem that’s going away. Next month’s UFC 122 event in Germany also airs on Spike TV via delay, and rumored early 2011 events in Australia and Ireland also are possibilities for the tape-delayed treatment.
Additionally, as the UFC’s expansion continues — India and China are two of its primary targets, and many other markets are lining up for a chance to host a UFC show — the timezone differences are going to become even more pronounced.
Although unable to offer a solution because of so many moving parts, UFC president Dana White remains characteristically undeterred.
“It’s a good problem to have,” he recently said.
Hamill returns to action Saturday
Loveland native Matt Hamill (9-2) returns to the cage Saturday when he meets future UFC hall of famer Tito Ortiz (15-7-1) at UFC 121, a pay-per-view event in Anaheim, Calif.
Hamill, who was born deaf but went on to win three NCAA Division III national wrestling championships, quietly has amassed a four-fight win streak in the UFC and could find himself near a title shot with a win over Ortiz.
Hamill, who long trained in the region before relocating to New York, also is the focus of a soon-to-debut movie entitled “Hamill.” The biopic stars deaf actor Russell Harvard as Hamill, and local UFC fighter Rich Franklin, one of Hamill’s friends and former training partners, plays the role of a former coach.
Dann Stupp is editor-in-chief of
MMAjunkie.com, voted best media outlet in the 2008 and 2009 World MMA Awards. For the latest mixed-martial-arts news, go to www.MMAjunkie.com.
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