UFC still hadn’t gone full force with merchandising capitalizing on it’s aggressive growth from 2006. There were very few UFC shirts, hats or other merchandise. There was no marketing to the public or advertising of UFC merch. This was about to change.
The FIGHT NETWORK started signing some big events to air live! K-1 World Grand Prix would air live on the growing network on 12/8.
The Philippines TV network Solar was forbidden to show UFC. The MRTCB, the country’s regulatory governing body of TV, deemed the UFC "too violent." MRTCB said they would air an edited version of UFC but later chose to air WWE RAW instead.
UFC 79 would air on Italian PPV. A first for the company in a country where WWE does big PPV buys. Instead of the then $39.95 U.S. price tag, the Italian’s could get UFC for a whopping $14.95.
BodogFIGHT announced in would be running with TuffNuff promotions in Vegas on 2/1 (the night before Mir/Lesnar).
IFL has just lost their MyNetwork TV deal due to rapidly declining ratings. The company did sign a deal to air their championship finals (crowning five champions) on HD-Net. The company has posted a $24,000,000 loss in just 7 months of operation but was hoping for a new network deal.
Tryouts for THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER took pace in Newark New Jersey (two weeks prior) where 149 people showed up. Some of the people walked out and went MIA before getting a chance to partake in grappling.
Randy Couture and Dana White officially agreed to meet after dueling lawsuits from both sides.
