MMAJunkie.com
UFC Fight Night 13 will be a three-hour broadcast on Spike TV, after all.
The UFC has made no official announcement, and Spike TV could not confirm the news, but a source close to the event exclusively told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that April 2's UFC Fight Night 13 event will, in fact, run three hours.
The event takes place at the Broomfield Event Center near Denver, Colo., and features what is perhaps the most talent-rich fight card in Spike TV history. Kenny Florian and Joe Lauzon meet in the night's main event, while fan favorites such as Clay Guida, Matt Hamill, Karo Parisyan, Frankie Edgar and Houston Alexander fill out the undercard.
The MMA fanbase recently kicked off a letter-writing campaign to Spike TV executives asking that the broadcast run three hours rather than the usual two. UFC President Dana White recently stated that the decision was Spike TV's -- and Spike TV's alone -- to make, which prompted a campaign fueled by MMA blogs and message boards.
UFC Fight Night 13 will serve as a lead-in for "The Ultimate Fighter 7," the latest installment of the UFC and Spike TV’s hit reality series. The seventh season of the show, which will feature 32 UFC middleweight hopefuls, includes UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson and the original winner of "The Ultimate Fighter," Forrest Griffin, as coaches.
Spike TV will likely announced news of the three-hour broadcast, as well as an updated televised card, this week, we're told. With the late switch of Tim Boetsch for Stephan Bonnar, and the inclusion of additional televised bouts, the official card released by the UFC last week is expected to change.
The latest card, in no particular order (aside from the main event), now includes:
Kenny Florian vs. Joe Lauzon
Thiago Alves vs. Karo Parisyan
Tim Boetsch vs. Matt Hamill
Houston Alexander vs. James Irvin
Nate Diaz vs. Kurt Pellegrino*
Frank Edgar vs. Gray Maynard
Marcus Aurelio vs. Spencer Fisher
Josh Neer vs. Din Thomas
Clay Guida vs. Samy Schiavo
Roman Mitichyan vs. George Sotiropoulos
Anthony Johnson vs. Tommy Speer
- -- GracieFighter.com today confirmed that "The Ultimate Fighter 6" winner Nate Diaz (8-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC) has been added to the card. He's expected to face Kurt Pellegrino (11-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC).
