TORONTO (December 10, 2015) – Fight Network, the world’s premier 24/7 television channel dedicated to complete coverage of combat sports, presents an additional pair of live mixed martial arts events this Friday, Dec. 11, beginning at 7:30 a.m. ET with ONE Championship: Spirit of Champions live from Manila, Philippines. Later at 10 p.m. ET, Fight Network presents RFA 33: Townsend vs. Chavez from Costa Mesa, Calif. Fight Network is currently available in free preview on most carriers across Canada for the month of December.
Airing live on Fight Network at 7:30 a.m. ET exclusively in Canada and Turkey, ONE Championship: Spirit of Champions is headlined by a five-round clash for the vacant ONE heavyweight championship as Filipino-American superstar Brandon Vera (13-7) battles Canada’s Paul Cheng (5-1). Other featured bouts include Mark Striegl (14-1) vs. Reece McLaren (7-3) in bantamweight action, Geje Eustaquio (6-4) vs. Jianbing Yang (5-1) and Eugene Toquero (7-2) vs. Li Wei Bin (3-0) in a pair of flyweight bouts, Ana Julaton (2-1) vs. Irina Mazepa (1-0) in a women’s flyweight tilt,Angela Lee (3-0) vs. Lena Tkhorevska (3-1) in a women’s strawweight bout, Bruno Pucci (3-1) vs.Anthony Engelen (3-0) in a featherweight duel, Ruel Catalan (2-6) vs. Alex Silva (2-1) at 125 pounds, plus Christian Lee (0-0) making his professional debut against David Meak (2-4) in featherweight action.
Airing live on Fight Network at 10 p.m. ET across Canada and globally in over 30 countries across Europe, Africa and the Middle East, RFA 33: Townsend vs. Chavez features the promotion’s return to Orange County, headlined by a showdown between Adam Townsend (14-3) and Ernest Chavez(9-2). In other action, Joey Merritt (6-1) returns to the RFA after taking a UFC fight on seven days’ notice this past summer and he’ll meet BJJ black belt Felipe Fogolin (7-2) in a welterweight contest.Jose Diaz (5-1) will take on Anthony Hernandez (5-0) in a welterweight bout. At bantamweight, Hawaiian KO sensation Boston Salmon (4-0) puts his undefeated record on the line against Keith Carson (6-2), Anderson Silva protégé Khalil Rountree (3-0) returns to welcome surging Justin Polendey (7-2) at middleweight, while UFC veteran Justin Jones (6-2) tangles with Luc Bondole (5-1-2) in light heavyweight action.
The live RFA 33: Townsend vs. Chavez will immediately follow a live Canadian broadcast of The Ultimate Fighter Finale: Team McGregor vs. Team Faber prelims at 8 p.m. ET, which includes heavyweights Gabriel Gonzaga (16-10) vs. Konstantin Erokhin (9-2), featherweights Tatsuya Kawajiri (34-8-2) vs. Jason Knight (16-1) and flyweights Joby Sanchez (7-1) vs. Geane Herrera(8-1). Fight Network will also televise the live post-fight press conference, which begins shortly after the event concludes.
But first, on Thursday, Dec. 10, Fight Network presents a live pre-show for UFC Fight Night™: Namajunas vs. VanZant, leading into the live main card at 10 p.m. ET exclusively in Canada. In the main event, No. 3-ranked women’s strawweight contender Rose Namajunas (4-2) battles surging superstar and No. 7-ranked Paige VanZant. (6-1). In the co-feature, No. 14-ranked lightweight veteranJim Miller (25-6, 1NC) looks to continue his ascent up the rankings against The Ultimate Fighter Livewinner Michael Chiesa (12-2). Rounding out the card, highly touted lightweight youngster Sage Northcutt (6-0) tries to keep his perfect record intact against Cody Pfister (12-4-1), while Canada’s undefeated Ultimate Fighter Nations middleweight winner Elias Theodorou (11-0) faces his toughest test to date against Brazilian Thiago “Marreta” Santos (11-3). Fight Network will also televise the live post-fight press conference, which begins shortly after the event concludes.
The action-packed fight week comes to a climax on Saturday, Dec. 12. At 2 p.m. ET, Fight Network presents an encore of UFC 189: Mendes vs. McGregor from July 2015, which featured Conor McGregor‘s memorable performance against Chad Mendes to capture the interim UFC featherweight title, plus a top candidate for “Fight of the Year” between Robbie Lawler and Rory MacDonald for the UFC welterweight title. The event is widely regarded as one of the best in promotional history.
At 7 p.m. ET, Fight Network presents a live pre-show for UFC 194: Aldo vs. McGregor, which features previews, predictions and analysis for the event, as well as on-the-scene reports from Las Vegas. Immediately following the pay-per-view broadcast, Fight Network presents a live post-show at approximately 1 a.m. ET, including highlights, reactions and the live post-fight press conference from Las Vegas.
All pre and post-fight shows will include exclusive interviews from Fight Network analysts JohnRamdeen and Robin Black on-site in Las Vegas, plus reports and analysis from Fight Network studios in Toronto. Canadian mixed martial arts pioneer and longtime UFC veteran Sam Stout will be in-studio for the live UFC 194 pre and post-fight shows.
For a full listing of Fight Network’s broadcast schedule, please visit www.fightnetwork.com, follow us on Twitter @fightnet, become a fan on Facebook and visit us on Instagram @fightnet.
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