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). Thankfully they're adding the hour. This is a PPV quality card IMO and adding Nate Diaz just makes it that much better!
Thank god they moved this to 3 hours (If of course this rumor is true) cause this fight card is absolutely sick. The only disappointment is that Bonnar got hurt. All of these fights could in reality make a PPV card and the majority of the fights could make the live show. I just hope Frankie Edgar gets on the live card at this point, he's done quite well since his move to the UFC.
The only fight I can say I wouldn't mind missing is the Johnson/Speer bout. I want to see everything else. Good move on Spike's part.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (speeds @ Feb 19 2008, 03:43 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>The only fight I can say I wouldn't mind missing is the Johnson/Speer bout. I want to see everything else. Good move on Spike's part.</div> Really? I want to see what speer has to offer. Kid is massive, good wrestling, KO power and the personality of a roof shingle. Pumped about this announcement.
I agree, there's at least 1 fighter I wanna see in each fight. Clay Guida win or lose always puts on a great Fight. Here's hoping he makes the main card, either as part of the broadcast or as filler. If Dana is a man of his words and those words are he want's exciting fighters who give exciting fights, he should not only keep Guida regardless of his UFC record, but give that man a raise!
and the hits keep coming for this Fight Night! 12 fights!! 3 hours being broadcast! woo hoo, my head is spinning! <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>The Ultimate Fighting Championship on April 2 is scheduled to make a return to its roots when UFC Fight Night 13 takes place in Broomfield, Colo. And it appears that they’re looking to return in a big way. Most of the UFC’s fight cards of late have been expanded to 10 bouts. The Colorado card is one such card, with 10 fights already officially announced by the promotion. But MMAWeekly sources close to both camps on Wednesday confirmed that Kurt Pellegrino and Nate Diaz have signed to fight on the event, boosting the card to 11 bouts. Not only that, but Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer on Wednesday also reported that UFC officials have confirmed a bout between Manny Gamburyan and Jeff Cox for the April 2, making it a 12-bout fight card. Part of the event will air live on Spike TV, which is expected to announce an expanded telecast of three hours. Fight Night 13 will serve as the lead-in to season seven of the popular reality series The Ultimate Fighter. -Kenny Florian vs. Joe Lauzon -Karo Parisyan vs. Thiago Alves -Matt Hamill vs. Tim Boetsch -Houston Alexander vs. James Irvin -Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard -Kurt Pellegrino vs. Nate Diaz -Marcus Aurelio vs. Spencer Fisher -Din Thomas vs. Josh Neer -Clay Guida vs. Samy Schiavo -Tommy Speer vs. Anthony Johnson -George Sotiropoulos vs. Roman Mitichyan -Manny Gamburyan vs. Jeff Cox</div>
