Originally Posted by MMARATED

Last week, the UFC stole a tiny bit of EliteXC's thunder by announcing two star-studded light heavyweight bouts - Mauricio Rua vs. Mark Coleman and Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson - for UFC 93 which takes place January 17, 2009, at the O2 Dublin in Dublin, Ireland.

Today, MMARated.com has learned that, as is the case with most European UFC cards, Spike TV is considering airing the event on tape delay in primetime. The network will be airing UFC 89 from Birmingham, England, on tape delay next Saturday.

This news is very promising for MMA fans as not only will they potentially have the chance to see four of the best 205-pounders compete for free, but this card comes nudged between UFC 92 on December 27 (Mir vs. Nogueira, Evans vs. Griffin, Jackson vs. Silva), the Affliction/Golden Boy show (as of now scheduled for January 24, but who the heck knows these days) and UFC 94 (St-Pierre vs. Penn) on January 31. So, you know, finances will be a little tight.

Speaking of Spike TV, we're still waiting for another "Kimbo Slice is the 'He Hate Me' of MMA" press release because, well, we loved the first one so much.