Countdown to UFC 99,” the UFC’s official preview show for Saturday’s “UFC 99: The Comeback,” debuts tonight on Spike TV.
“Countdown to UFC 99″ airs at 11 p.m. ET/PT, and a replay is slated for the day of the event, June 13, at 1:30 p.m. ET/PT.
The show previews Saturday’s pay-per-view event, which takes place at Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany, with a main event between Rich Franklin and Wanderlei Silva at a catch-weight of 195 pounds.
The overseas event in Cologne airs in an unusual pay-per-view slot at 3 p.m. ET (noon PT). Again, noon Pacific Time if you plan on watching the event on PPV!!! The night’s preliminary card begins at approximately 12:30 p.m. (9:30 a.m. PT).
Per MMAJunkie, cameras followed Silva as he prepared for the bout in his new home of Las Vegas, where he recently opened his own training facility. Training stops for Franklin, meanwhile, included his home of Cincinnati, as well as Los Angeles (where he trained with Anderson Silva) and Seattle, where he works with head trainer Matt Hume.
Silva plans to head to the 185-pound division after the fight. Franklin, who recently said he’s moving back to light heavyweight after the fight permanently (see original article here), headlines an event for the first time since he lost a rematch to Anderson Silva at UFC 77 in October 2007.
The full card for UFC 99 includes:
MAIN CARD (televised)
- Rich Franklin vs. Wanderlei Silva
- Cheick Kongo vs. Cain Velasquez
- Ben Saunders vs. Mike Swick
- Marcus Davis vs. Dan Hardy
- Spencer Fisher vs. Caol Uno
- Mustapha al Turk vs. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic
PRELIMINARY CARD (un-televised)
- Justin Buchholz vs. Terry Etim
- Dale Hartt vs. Denis Siver
- Peter Sobotta vs. Paul Taylor
- Roli Delgado vs. Paul Kelly
- Denis Stojnic vs. Stefan Struve
- John Hathaway vs. Rick Story
2 Comments Received
June 10th, 2009 @5:21 am
I watched the countdown show tonight, and I must say that it got me excited for a UFC event that I was otherwise lukewarm for. I think Franklin should be able to handle Silva relatively easily, but I would love to see Silva win just so there could be a Wanderlei vs. Anderson fight.
The other fight I am really looking forward to after watching the countdown in the Kongo-Velasquez fight. I don’t know why, but I just don’t really care for Cheick Kongo and would like to see Velasquez kick his butt.
June 10th, 2009 @11:59 pm
I agree with you on both ends Matt. Franklin should get the win but with Silva’s heavy hands you never know. It would be cool to see Anderson and Wanderlei duke it out though. As for Kongo, again agreed. Let’s see Cain get this one and move him on up in those rankings!
Thanks for the educated reply Matt.
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