Fuel TV's package of content for the Ultimate Fighting Championship will include once-a-week news show.
UFC Tonight will start Jan. 3 as a weekly 30-minute program, said George Greenberg, executive vice president and general manager of Fuel. Todd Harris will be the host, with lightweight fighter and Kenny Florian as the co-host.
Jay Glazer will contribute weekly features. Ariel Helwani will have an "Insider" role similar to that of Glazer on Fox's NFL pregame show, reporting news and acting as UFC Tonight's man on the scene at UFC events.
Harris was the play-by-play announcer for World Extreme Cagefighting. Florian has been a studio analyst for ESPN's MMA Live program since its inception in 2008.
Glazer was part of the team on Fox Sports Net's highlight shows for Pride Fighting Championships and took part in the pre-fight coverage for last month's UFC on Fox premiere. He also was on the broadcast crew for an Affliction Entertainment's show in July 2008.
Helwani started covering MMA as an online journalist in 2006 and has been with the MMA Fighting site since 2009. He has become the sport's most popular reporter, winning "Journalist of the Year" for the last two years in the World MMA Awards, which are decided by online voting.
Content for UFC Tonight will include interviews, more access to fighters and exclusive angles for fight footage, said Greenberg, who described the program as the "official vessel" for UFC news and information.
The show will be weekly for the first six months. "If we like what we see, it could go a couple of nights a week to possibly every night of the week, depending on performance," Greenberg said.
It will air at 10 p.m. ET. Fuel does not delay programming for other time zones, so that means a 7 p.m. broadcast for the Pacific time zone.
Other new programs with Fuel include:
• Six live fight cards annually
• Live broadcasts of preliminary card bouts that were streaming on Facebook this year
• Pre-fight and post-fight coverage hosted by Glazer, who will be joined by an analyst.
• Occasional one-shot programs, such as a UFC Champions' Roundtable broadcast scheduled to premiere on New Year's Day.
Fuel also will carry much of the archival programming that has been running on Spike TV, such as UFC Unleashed, UFC Ultimate Knockouts and Best of Pride Fighting Championships. Spike itself still has rights to UFC's library through 2012.
UFC Tonight will start Jan. 3 as a weekly 30-minute program, said George Greenberg, executive vice president and general manager of Fuel. Todd Harris will be the host, with lightweight fighter and Kenny Florian as the co-host.
Jay Glazer will contribute weekly features. Ariel Helwani will have an "Insider" role similar to that of Glazer on Fox's NFL pregame show, reporting news and acting as UFC Tonight's man on the scene at UFC events.
Harris was the play-by-play announcer for World Extreme Cagefighting. Florian has been a studio analyst for ESPN's MMA Live program since its inception in 2008.
Glazer was part of the team on Fox Sports Net's highlight shows for Pride Fighting Championships and took part in the pre-fight coverage for last month's UFC on Fox premiere. He also was on the broadcast crew for an Affliction Entertainment's show in July 2008.
Helwani started covering MMA as an online journalist in 2006 and has been with the MMA Fighting site since 2009. He has become the sport's most popular reporter, winning "Journalist of the Year" for the last two years in the World MMA Awards, which are decided by online voting.
Content for UFC Tonight will include interviews, more access to fighters and exclusive angles for fight footage, said Greenberg, who described the program as the "official vessel" for UFC news and information.
The show will be weekly for the first six months. "If we like what we see, it could go a couple of nights a week to possibly every night of the week, depending on performance," Greenberg said.
It will air at 10 p.m. ET. Fuel does not delay programming for other time zones, so that means a 7 p.m. broadcast for the Pacific time zone.
Other new programs with Fuel include:
• Six live fight cards annually
• Live broadcasts of preliminary card bouts that were streaming on Facebook this year
• Pre-fight and post-fight coverage hosted by Glazer, who will be joined by an analyst.
• Occasional one-shot programs, such as a UFC Champions' Roundtable broadcast scheduled to premiere on New Year's Day.
Fuel also will carry much of the archival programming that has been running on Spike TV, such as UFC Unleashed, UFC Ultimate Knockouts and Best of Pride Fighting Championships. Spike itself still has rights to UFC's library through 2012.
