Fox Sports Net has taken quite an attraction to MMA is the recent months. With the Pride FC specials hosted by Jay Glazer and Frank Trigg, and the International Fight League contract showing IFL MMA events, FSN is bringing MMA to the free TV market, depite sister-station Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly taking issue with MMA as a sport.
MMAWeekly.com recently noted the possibility of the second round of the Pride Bushido Grand Prix to air on Fox Sports Net instead of on pay-per-view in the US. The following is taken from MMAWeekly.com
Dream Stage Entertainment president Nobuyuki Sakakibara recently said in Japan that there are plans for the second round of the Pride Bushido Grand Prix to air nationally in the United States on Fox Sports Net.
While nothing has been finalized, DSE and FSN are in the advanced stages of negotiations for the Saturday, August 26th Pride Bushido event to air on Fox Sports Net instead of airing on pay-per-view in the United States. No date or timeslot has been decided on, but it would likely air in primetime on either Saturday, August 26th or Sunday, August 27th.
If the show does air on August 26th, it could air head-to-head with the UFC 62 event on pay-per-view, which will be headlined by the fight between Chuck Liddell and Renato “Babalu” Sobral. The PPV broadcast of UFC 62 will be airing from 10:00 PM to 1:00 AM Eastern Time on August 26th.
Pride’s July 1st event is still scheduled to be shown on pay-per-view in the US. The Bushido Grand Prix second round is scheduled for August 26 in Japan.
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[...] As I noted a few weeks ago, the next Pride Bushido event will be show on Fox Sports Net on August 27. Dream Stage Entertainment president Nobuyuki Sakakibara reportedly told MMAWeekly.com writer Scott Petersen that, the August 26th Bushido will be aired in the United States during primetime on [Sunday] August 27th… it will be edited into a two-hour show. We have a plan to make it a regular occurrence, so that Fox Sports can run Pride Bushido regularly. [...]