New York, NY, September 19, 2008 – The Ultimate Fighting Championship® and Spike TV have joined forces to present “UFC Fight For The Troops™”, a special three-hour live televised event on Wednesday, December 10 starting at 9:00 PM, ET to raise funds to build a treatment center for the brave men and women in the United States Armed Forces who have experienced traumatic brain injuries. The facility is being sponsored, built and equipped by the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. The announcement was made today by Dana White, UFC President and Kevin Kay, Spike TV President.
The goal of “UFC Fight For The Troops” is to raise the necessary funds for The National Intrepid Center of Excellence (NICoE), an advanced research facility in Bethseda, MD dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of military personnel and veterans suffering from traumatic brain injury (TBI) and psychological health issues.
“With this event on December 10th, we hope to raise millions for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund and to help increase national awareness for the meaningful ways the National Intrepid Center of Excellence will impact the lives of our service personnel here in the United States,” said White.
“Spike TV has the deepest respect and admiration for the men and women who put their lives on the line for us every day,” said Kay. “Spike TV is proud to be a part of raising
funds to build this world class state of the art research and physical rehabilitation facility where active duty personnel and veterans with traumatic brain injuries can receive the best medical care this country has to offer – we owe them no less.”
More information about the facility, including ways to donate, can be found online at http://www.fallenheroesfund.org or by calling 1-800-340 HERO.
Spike TV will telecast “UFC Fight For The Troops” live from Fort Bragg, NC, Wednesday, December 10 from 9:00 PM – Midnight, ET. The event will feature a full UFC fight card as well as celebrity appearances and an all-star lineup of UFC fighters. A phone bank in Los Angeles will also be created where donors can interact with the celebrities and UFC fighters answering phones. Further details on appearances and event information will be released soon.
New York, NY, September 17, 2008 – Spike TV will present an “Octoberfest” of UFC programming with rebroadcasts of UFC 86 on Saturday, October 4 at 9:00pm ET/PT, featuring a light heavyweight championship bout between Rampage Jackson and Forrest Griffin, and UFC 87, headlined by Georges St. Pierre’s first defense of the welterweight title in a matchup with Jon Fitch, on Saturday, October 11 at 9:00pm ET/PT. The special telecasts will lead up to Spike’s presentation of UFC 89 from Birmingham, England on Saturday, October 18 at 9:00pm ET/PT.
The July 4th weekend title fight at UFC 86 between “The Ultimate Fighter 7” coaches, UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and top contender Forrest Griffin, featured plenty of fireworks. For the first time on cable, UFC fans will get a chance to witness the five-round war which completed Griffin’s four-year journey from Georgia police officer to UFC champion. The telecast of the entire live fight card will also feature outstanding performances by “The Ultimate Fighter” alums Joe “Daddy” Stevenson and Josh Koscheck.
At UFC 87, Georges St. Pierre defended his welterweight title against rising star Jon Fitch, cementing his position as one of the best fighters in the world. However, it was Brock Lesner’s first dominating performance in the Octagon in front of his hometown Minneapolis fans against veteran Heath Herring that left the crowd abuzz. Unfortunately for the Minnesota faithful, local product and lightweight contender, Roger Huerta, lost a hard-fought decision to Kenny Florian in a battle of two of the lightweight division’s elite performers.
Spike TV heads across the Atlantic Ocean for the third time to telecast a UFC fight card, with middleweights “The Ultimate Fighter 3” champ Michael Bisping and “The Ultimate Fighter 1” standout Chris Leben headlining on Saturday, October 18 at 9:00pm ET/PT (same-day tape delay) from The National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, England. UFC 89 will also include two action-packed co-feature bouts with four of the top contenders in the light heavyweight division. Lyoto Machida and Thiago Silva, both undefeated, will square off in the Octagon®, with the winner on the cusp of a title shot. “The Ultimate Fighter 2” alum Keith Jardine, looking to rebound from a loss to Wanderlai Silva, takes on veteran Brandon “The Truth” Vera, who is 1-0 since moving down in weight class.
Spike TV is available in 96.1 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks. A unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), MTV Networks is one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike TV’s Internet address is www.spike.com and for up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs, visit Spike TV’s press site at http://www.spike.com/press.