UFC Counters April 17 Strikeforce On CBS Event With Spike TV Card
Dana White confirmed today that UFC is running a show on April 17th, head-to-head with the announced Strikeforce show on CBS. The event would air most likely on Spike TV. The Wanderlei Silva vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama match is not the main event. The only thing confirmed is they are trying to finalize a Matt Serra vs. Mike Swick semifinal fight today.
This is a very aggressive move by the UFC who have, up until this point, counter-programmed Strikeforce shows with replays of recent pay-per-view events. That they are going to try and put a live event on Spike is a clear sign that Dana White has had enough and is ready to see them go away.
There has been talk that if the UFC pulled this move that Strikeforce would reschedule their event for April 24 to go heads-up with the first WEC PPV effort. The event is projecting at roughly 50,000 - 100,000 buys by most experts compared to a UFC on Spike which has a viewership in the millions. A move to the 24th would not only be a smart business move in that respect but would also be a counter punch by Strikeforce who is going to have to be willing to take a stand against Zuffa at some point.
There are several rumors that in addition to Serra vs. Swick and Silva vs. Akiyama the UFC will move the Kimbo Slice vs. Matt Mitrione fight from UFC 113 to this event. The last time that Slice fought on Spike TV he drew in 5.2 million viewers.
