Trio of UFC 125 Prelims to Air on Ion Television

http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/Trio-of-UFC-125-Prelims-to-Air-on-Ion-Television-29022

by Sherdog.com Staff

Fans will get to see some extra bouts from UFC 125 on New Year’s Day, thanks to the promotion’s latest, unexpected television partner.

Three preliminary bouts from Saturday’s show in Las Vegas will air live on Ion Television. UFC President Dana White told MMAJunkie.com on Monday that Ion had secured the rights to air the matches, though terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The program has already been added to Ion’s schedule, and is set to air for one hour beginning at 9 p.m. ET.

Included on the Ion broadcast, according to White, will be a lightweight contest between fan favorites Marcus Davis and Jeremy Stephens, a featherweight bout featuring WEC transfers Josh Grispi and Dustin Poirier, and a middleweight match-up pitting seasoned veteran Phil Baroni against “Ultimate Fighter 11” competitor Brad Tavares.

The broadcast will mark the UFC’s network television debut.

Known as Pax TV from 1998 to 2005 and simply as “i” until 2007, the network can be seen on approximately 90 affiliates across the U.S. Ion’s current prime time lineup is comprised of syndicated movies and reruns of police procedural dramas such as “Criminal Minds” and “Without a Trace.”

The pay-per-view portion of UFC 125 will be headlined by a UFC lightweight title bout between champion Frankie Edgar and the only man who has defeated him, Gray Maynard.