Following Saturday's UFC Fight Night 23 event, the attention turns to the organization's next venture: a stacked Super Bowl weekend show, UFC 126.And the traditional pre-event preview show returns Feb. 2 with the debut of "Countdown to UFC 126" on Spike TV.
The pay-per-view event takes place Feb. 5 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas with an Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort middleweight title fight and a Forrest Griffin vs. Rich Franklin co-headliner.
The preview shows debuts Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. ET/PT on Spike TV.
Replays air Feb. 5 at 2 a.m. ET/PT and 6 p.m. ET/PT on Spike TV.
The in-depth "Countdown" show focuses primarily on the night's long-awaited title fight. Initially, Silva was expected to fight Chael Sonnen in a rematch of their UFC 117 meeting, which the champ won with a come-from-behind fifth-round submission. But when Sonnen failed a post-fight drug test, officials pulled Vitor Belfort from a UFC 122 headliner with Yushin Okami and booked him for the Silva meeting.
In addition to the title fight, a future light-heavyweight title challenger could be determined from the night's two key 205-pound matchups. In addition to former champs Franklin and Griffin, up-and-comers Jon Jones and Ryan Bader meet in a pivotal bout. Each winner eyes a shot at champ Maurio "Shogun" Rua or Rashad Evans, who headline March's UFC 128 event.
The full UFC 126 card includes:
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view)
- Champ Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort (for middleweight title)
- Forrest Griffin vs. Rich Franklin
- Jake Ellenberger vs. Carlos Eduardo Rocha
- Ryan Bader vs. Jon Jones
- Antonio Banuelos vs. Miguel Torres
- Paul Kelly vs. Donald Cerrone
- Chad Mendes vs. Michihiro Omigawa
- Gabe Ruediger vs. Paul Taylor
- Demetrious Johnson vs. Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto
- Kyle Kingsbury vs. Ricardo Romero
- Mike Pierce vs. Kenny Robertson
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