What MMA fans need to know about Fox Sports 1
On Aug. 17, the UFC will debut on Fox Sports 1, a new 24-hour sports channel starting that day. Named UFC Fight Night 26 -- taking off from the old fight nights that would run on Spike -- the card will be in Boston and headlined by Chael Sonnen and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. But the bigger question for MMA fans is not who will win, but will they be able to watch this new channel?
Maybe. FS 1 will take the space of the Speed Channel on your cable package. But as of July 15, DirecTV, Dish Network and Time Warner didn't have a deal in place to carry FS 1. According to a Q & A about FS1, people who don't get the channel and want it should call their cable provider. Here are the other notes pertinent to MMA fans:
-- You can watch it on your smartphone or tablet, but only if you get it on cable.
When FOX Sports 1 launches in August, we’ll also be releasing FOX Sports GO, a groundbreaking mobile sports experience for iPhone, iPad, Android devices and web. The app will offer more than 1,100 live games and events from across FOX Sports, FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports’ 22 regional sports networks. It will also have scores, highlights, news, stats and analysis.
-- The Ultimate Fighter will air on Fox Sports 1.
The Ultimate Fighter, UFC’s signature reality series, moves to FOX Sports 1 when it returns in September. The series, featuring Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate as coaches, will run on Wednesday evenings at 10:00 PM ET where it anchors FOX Sports 1’s prime time UFC programming block. Season 18 of The Ultimate Fighter premieres Wednesday, Sept. 4 (10:00 PM ET).
The Wednesday night UFC block will also include live fights. Two events are already scheduled: Aug. 28 in Indianapolis, with Carlos Condit vs. Martin Kampmann headlining, and Sept. 4 in Brazil, with Ryan Bader vs. Glover Teixeira in the main event.
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