SpikeTV

(As if this wasn't humiliating enough.)

Did anybody watch the replay of UFC 87 on Spike last night? If you did, you might have noticed there was something missing. As the eternally vigilant Mike C. at MMAEruption explains:

The fight between Roger Huerta and Kenny Florian. Weird, huh? That was the third most-hyped fight at the event, and it does not make it onto the broadcast over stuff like Maia/Mcdonald and McFedries/Massenzio, the latter of which was actually from Ultimate Fight Night 15!

...

[N]othing pisses [Dana White] off more than when his fighters talk about money in public. And if you recall, shortly before UFC 87, Roger Huerta was interviewed by Fight! magazine, complaining quite a bit about the UFC's compensation policies and his contract. Plus, if we look back at the original UFC 87 broadcast, Roger's post-fight interview wasn't broadcast. And now, the match between Roger and Kenny doesn't even make it onto the replay? True, the fight wasn't exactly the barn burner it was expected to be, but come on! Kenny and Roger are big names for the UFC.

So we can stick the proverbial fork in Roger Huerta, because he's done. He is about to get the Andrei Arlovski treatment. Expect Roger's next fight to be on the undercard of an Ultimate Fight Night against a wrestler that will hold him down and make him look bad for three rounds.

UFC 87's three headlining fights (Huerta/Florian, Lesnar/Herring, GSP/Fitch) all went to decision, and while that may have created some time constraints for Spike, you can't see this as anything but an intentional insult for Huerta — especially when his match is replaced by some random bout from an Ultimate Fight Night. We'll keep you updated on when/where Huerta's next match will be, but it's looking like he's being made an example of right now. Cold-blooded, bro...

(There's really no reason for us to post this picture except that holy shit is Cris Cyborg terrifying.)

From an amusing new press release just sent out by Spike TV:

SPIKE TV’S RE-BROADCAST OF UFC 84 DRAWS MORE YOUNG MEN THAN A LIVE PRO ELITEXC CHAMPIONSHIP FIGHT ON CBS

Need proof the UFC is the preeminent mixed martial arts brand in the world? On Saturday, July 26, more men 18-34 watched a repeat…a repeat…of a UFC event on Spike TV than a LIVE telecast of a Pro EliteXC championship card on CBS. Despite being available in over 17 million more homes [ed. note: I think they mean over 17 million less homes?], Spike TV drew 27% more Men 18-34 for a re-broadcast of “UFC 84: Penn vs. Sherk” from (9:00-12:00am ET/PT) than CBS’s live show (9:00-11:00pm). Spike TV’s telecast tallied 433,000 Men 18-34 to CBS’s 341,000.

Overall, “UFC 84: Penn vs. Sherk” drew higher ratings than Pro EliteXC in Men 18-49 (1.5 to 1.3) and Men 18-34 (1.5 and 1.0).

Reminiscent of the XFL’s rating collapse years ago, the CBS telecast was 69% lower in Men 18-34 and 57% lower with Men 18-49 than its initial broadcast on CBS in May featuring the “He Hate Me” of MMA, Kimbo Slice.

Garbling the competition's name as "Pro EliteXC" is an awesomely passive aggressive touch, as is comparing EliteXC to the ill-fated XFL. We're not sure what's up with referring to Kimbo as "He Hate Me," though it sounds vaguely racist, and Spike Lee is probably preparing an infringement lawsuit as we speak.

Anyway, sending out a press release on your competition's weak ratings is a barrel of laughs, but maybe the joke's on Spike.

Hello all and welcome to CagePotato’s live blog of "UFC Fight Night: Silva vs. Irvin" from the Palms Casino in Las Vegas. As the incontestable Mr. Goldstein mentioned yesterday, my name is Chad Dundas and I am the editor-in-chief over at www.mma-america.com, the mixed martial arts blog for the discerning gentleman. For the next few hours I’ll be your humble scribe here as we slog through the UFC’s bid to endanger Anderson Silva’s career in a needless and petty attempt to sideswipe the competition. Should be a kick.

Why exactly you’re reading the live blog of a show that’s on free TV, I’ll never know. But hey, it is my first time here and I’m not going to judge you. We’ll save that for later. Right now, we’re about ready to roll … right after the first of many 30 minute commercial breaks. Live round-by-round results from the event are after the jump; refresh your browser every few minutes for all the latest.

(Spider-Man punching a hole through the Sandman; just saying.)

Attention, Potato Nation! We will be liveblogging both "Affliction: Banned" and "Silva vs. Irvin" on Saturday night. I (BG) will be posting round-by-round updates and commentary for the Affliction show, while live updates for the UFC card on SpikeTV will be handled by the lovely and talented Chad Dundas of MMA-America. Fowlkes will be attending the Affliction show in person and will surely return on Monday with wild stories. Luiz De Souza, I would imagine, will be somewhere furiously translating Portuguese. And there you have it — there's no other place to be this weekend for MMA event coverage than CagePotato.com. Come by and bring friends.

As it turns out, I'll have my hands full covering Affliction, since the entire card will now be televised. "Banned" was originally slated to feature two fights on Fox Sports Net and five fights on pay-per-view, with four preliminary bouts expected to go untelevised. Now, FSN will feature three matches, and the rest will be on the PPV card. Here are the particulars:

Affliction: Banned prelims — Live on FSN, 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET; will feature Aleksander Emelianenko vs. Paul Buentello, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Edwin Dewees + 1 more fight
Affliction: Banned main card — Live on pay-per-view starting at 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET
UFC: Silva vs. Irvin — Live on SpikeTV, 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET

Be here.

SpikeTV passes along this alert:

Tonight at 9PM on Spike TV, during a presentation of A History of Violence, Geoff Keighley, host of GameTrailers TV, will present exclusive new footage from THQ's UFC® 2009 Undisputed, recreating the end of the UFC 86 light heavyweight title fight between Forrest Griffin and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

Might be worth a look, if you honestly have nothing going on tonight (and Amir Sadollah assumes you don't in the above promo). We hear the new footage is pretty damn realistic, right down to Juanito Ibarra stamping his feet and crying little pixelated tears after the decision. Though we'd still rather see the Undisputed recreation of the end of the Koscheck/Lytle fight.

Also: It's becoming apparent that Sadollah doesn't always understand the subtle difference between "funny guy" and "smug prick." Just a thought...