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UFC to be on HBO

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HBO will televise three Ultimate Fighting Championship cards in 2007 and holds an option for three more broadcasts, respected boxing scribe Thomas Hauser reported Monday. According to the report on SecondsOut.com, HBO's UFC cards will air at midnight on to-be-determined dates.

 

Hauser's report confirms the long-rumored deal between HBO and UFC, though the agreement did not come without objections from HBO Sports President Ross Greenberg. "He did everything in his power not to televise mixed martial arts," Hauser wrote of Greenberg. "But in the end, he had no choice."

 

Speaking last week with Hauser, Greenberg said he's not a "big" fan of the UFC — and one would presume MMA — but also conceded he wasn't much of a boxing fan when he joined HBO. "I recognize the fact that UFC appeals to a fan base and demographic that boxing doesn't have right now," Greenberg told Hauser.

 

Greenberg's predecessor, Seth Abraham, voiced his displeasure to Hauser over UFC's association with HBO.

 

"I think it's ridiculous for HBO to televise UFC," Abraham said. "When I was at HBO, we had discussions once or twice a year about professional wrestling. We all agreed that it would get good ratings and we also agreed that it would tarnish our boxing franchise. I feel the same way about UFC. Boxing has a storied history. When HBO attaches itself to boxing, it attaches itself to Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, and Muhammad Ali. It attaches itself to history, achievement, and glory. UFC has none of those things, and it will tarnish HBO's boxing franchise. Will UFC get good ratings? Probably. But so would naked boxing."

 

Despite the wishes of HBO's current and former sports chiefs, HBO chairman Chris Albrecht, hoping to court younger viewers to the premium cable network, "insisted on the telecasts," Hauser reported, after being pitched by UFC-hired Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel.

 

From Sherdog.

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HBO will televise three Ultimate Fighting Championship cards in 2007 and holds an option for three more broadcasts, respected boxing scribe Thomas Hauser reported Monday. According to the report on SecondsOut.com, HBO's UFC cards will air at midnight on to-be-determined dates.

 

Hauser's report confirms the long-rumored deal between HBO and UFC, though the agreement did not come without objections from HBO Sports President Ross Greenberg. "He did everything in his power not to televise mixed martial arts," Hauser wrote of Greenberg. "But in the end, he had no choice."

 

Speaking last week with Hauser, Greenberg said he's not a "big" fan of the UFC — and one would presume MMA — but also conceded he wasn't much of a boxing fan when he joined HBO. "I recognize the fact that UFC appeals to a fan base and demographic that boxing doesn't have right now," Greenberg told Hauser.

 

Greenberg's predecessor, Seth Abraham, voiced his displeasure to Hauser over UFC's association with HBO.

 

"I think it's ridiculous for HBO to televise UFC," Abraham said. "When I was at HBO, we had discussions once or twice a year about professional wrestling. We all agreed that it would get good ratings and we also agreed that it would tarnish our boxing franchise. I feel the same way about UFC. Boxing has a storied history. When HBO attaches itself to boxing, it attaches itself to Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, and Muhammad Ali. It attaches itself to history, achievement, and glory. UFC has none of those things, and it will tarnish HBO's boxing franchise. Will UFC get good ratings? Probably. But so would naked boxing."

 

Despite the wishes of HBO's current and former sports chiefs, HBO chairman Chris Albrecht, hoping to court younger viewers to the premium cable network, "insisted on the telecasts," Hauser reported, after being pitched by UFC-hired Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel.

Because as we all know, all the corruption in boxing has not touched HBO in any way, shape or form...

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Fuck it. I was on the fence about ordering HBO before with Entourage, The Wire, Curb, etc. I'm getting tired of waiting for the DVDs...

 

But if UFC is on HBO, that decides it. No questions asked.

 

Awesome.

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If anybody has Time Warner Cable, they are offering HBO for $5/month for the next 6 months and then it will go it's normal price after ($12.95/month). Hell of a deal. I already ordered.

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The real Ari scores for UFC

 

 

I was wondering if that was who they based the character off of.

 

and it will tarnish HBO's boxing franchise.
Like Tyson hasn't done enough of that....

 

Will UFC get good ratings? Probably. But so would naked boxing."

 

They should look into naked woman boxing....

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Deal's on.

 

After months of negotiations, the UFC and HBO have finally inked a deal that will result in a handful of UFC events airing on the subscription-cable giant. That’s the word from MMANews.com, which quoted a conference call today with UFC president Dana White.

 

The negotiations between the UFC and HBO began in early 2007, but little progress had been made since the initial talks. Reports surfaced early in the process that HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg didn’t want to air UFC events at all. Although he eventually warmed up to the idea (after the head of HBO stepped in), his predecessor (Seth Abraham) called the potential deal “ridiculous” and stated that it would tarnish HBO’s once-might boxing division.

 

The inability for the two sides to come to terms on items such as production crews and broadcast teams forced this weekend’s UFC 70 event to air on Spike TV, rather than HBO as was first planned.

 

From MMANews.com:

 

Dana just mentioned during the conference call with Mirko CroCop to the international media today that the UFC and HBO have officially inked a deal and the company will debut on the premium network this summer.

 

When asked about the details he skipped around for a while but finally said that HBO will be doing the production. But he also said that he would never have signed a deal that he wasn’t comfortable with.

 

Despite the deal reportedly being signed, it’s far too late in the process for this weekend’s UFC 70 event, which takes in England, to air on HBO rather than Spike TV. Additionally, it’s unknown if Ireland’s UFC 72 show (which the UFC recently announced would also air on Spike TV) could instead take place on HBO.

 

In addition to the HBO news, White also announced that PRIDE Fighting Championships would have a “huge TV deal” here in the U.S.

 

Also, he said that “Inside the UFC,” the weekly UFC-news show hosted by Joe Rogan, will be returning to Spike TV.

 

Maybe I was wrong in the other thread about UFC 72 being on Spike. 70 was originally planned to be on HBO but they couldn't get the deal done in time... so now 72 is either going to be on HBO or Spike.

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They should put it on HBO, I don't pay for that channel for nothing.

 

Well, I pay for that channel because of boxing, but the more fights, the better.

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HBO — not the UFC — will get to choose the announcers who commentate the UFC broadcasts on the subscription-cable giant.

 

That’s the word out of today’s conference call with UFC president Dana White.

 

Earlier today, I mentioned that the two sides had finally inked a deal after months of stalled negotiations. The UFC, which currently broadcasts its events primarily on pay-per-view and Spike TV, began talks with HBO earlier this year. The new deal would apparently put a few UFC shows on HBO beginning this summer.

 

However, as part of the deal, HBO would be in charge of the production and would use HBO broadcasters. That means that the UFC’s official crew of Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg (and Randy Couture) will be replaced — mostly like by HBO Boxing’s stable of broadcasters — during all HBO broadcasts.

 

However, when asked if HBO Boxing analyst Jim Lampley (one of the UFC’s most outspoken critics) would be one of the broadcasters, White gave a definitive “hell no.”

 

Just within the past month, White admitted that control of the production had been the primary point of disagreement and that it was holding up the deal. It appears he ceded that control to get the deal done.

 

Although HBO Sports was initially against airing UFC events, it’s hard to imagine the channel intentionally sabotaging the broadcasts. And as White stated today, he wouldn’t agree to such a deal if he didn’t feel completely comfortable that the events would be handled in a professional and suitable way.

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So who will Ken Shamrock lose to this time? Shamrock vs Couture, Shamrock vs Franklin 2, Karo Parisian vs Serra?

 

Gracie/Shamrock

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