Various mixed-martial arts sources confirmed Sunday that October 3 will feature a new type of “Monday Night War.” Spike TV will be airing another UFC “Ultimate Fight Night” to go head-to-head with WWE RAW’s debut on USA.
This only further stresses the degree to which Spike TV has gotten behind UFC as a sound replacement for WWE programming. While the ratings for its flagship “Ultimate Fighter” reality show do not suggest ability to fully replace WWE’s Monday night numbers, weekend UFC programming has done significantly better than WWE’s weekend offerings. And, all UFC shows do extremely well in the young male demographic, which has helped the network draw very high-profile advertisers.
The Monday night face-off will speak volumes about the appeal of both WWE and UFC. UFC and Spike TV officials have long-insisted (and with some hard evidence) that their MMA programming does not depend on the wrestling audience to succeed; its ability to perform well against WWE would certainly prove that notion. Any negative impact on the WWE rating would indicate fans’ thirst for a fighting-based alternative on Monday nights.
MMAWeekly has listed the following rumored card for the show:
Evan Tanner vs David Loiseau
Stephan Bonnar vs James Irvin
Josh Koscheck vs Drew Fickett
Chris Leben vs Edwin Dewees
Thiago “Pitbull” Alves vs Spencer Fisher
Brandon Vera vs Fabiano Scherner
Brock Larson vs John Fitch
Pierre Guillet vs TBA
