UFC news: HBO, ESPN...

[bullseyeguy]

http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=3799&zoneid=13

A reporter mentioned that the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board might be interested in legalizing knees to the head on the ground in MMA, and asked if White thinks the Nevada State Athletic Commission would follow suit if that were to happen. White said, "Probably, because it was New Jersey that didn't want knees to the head before." White has previously stated on multiple occasions that he would personally like to see knees to the head on the ground legalized in MMA.

White also said that Brandon Vera will be fighting on a UFC card in the near future, that the Spike TV program Inside the UFC (which was previously placed on indefinite hiatus) will be returning at some point, and that ESPN will not only be covering UFC events from now on, but may also broadcast live UFC events in the future.

http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=3796&zoneid=13

White said that the UFC broadcasts on HBO will have an HBO production team and HBO announcers, so UFC announcers Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan will not be doing commentary on the UFC's HBO events. White said that he doesn't know who will be on the HBO announcing team for UFC events, but when asked if Jim Lampley would be on the team, White said, "Hell no."

White inferred that the HBO events will be higher in stature than the Spike TV events but still lower in stature than the pay-per-view events. As an example, White said that you could expect to see the winners from future seasons of The Ultimate Fighter have their first post-TUF fights on HBO after they win the TUF competition, whereas the UFC Fight Night events would be the home for all of the fighters who are on TUF and get UFC contracts even though they didn't win the TUF competition.

 

[nyital571]

Wow ufc is makin moves

 

[Motion]

Love that ESPN will be covering results. Makes it much easier to pass up on the lesser PPVs.

 

[CharlestonPhan]

why was the spike show "Inside the UFC" put on hiatus? were the ratings bad? i thought Rogan did a pretty good job with the show.

with all the recent news, it would seem that now they could use the show to introduce fans to PRIDE fighters to the UFC audience among other things..