As expected Spike TV will air UFC 138 on Nov. 5.
Spike TV officials today announced the overseas event will air via same-day delay at 8 p.m. ET/PT. (That's a five-hour delay on the U.S. East Coast.)
The event, which takes place at LG Arena in Birmingham, England, features a five-round non-title main event between middleweights Chris Leben (26-7 MMA, 12-6 UFC) and Mark Munoz (11-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC).
The Spike TV broadcast is slated for three hours.
Other confirmed bout include a co-headliner of bantamweights Brad Pickett (20-5 MMA, 0-0 UFC) vs. Renan Barao (26-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) and a main-card bout of lightweights Anthony Njokuani (14-5 MMA, 1-1 UFC) vs. Paul Taylor (11-6-1 MMA, 4-5 UFC). Pickett and Taylor both are British fighters.
The UFC hasn't host a show in the U.K. since October 2010. The event, UFC 120, took place in London and also aired via same-day delay on Spike TV.
"I'm really looking forward to this fight against Munoz and fighting in England again," Leben stated. "They have some great fans there, and the noise they make is loud. It is cool to make a little piece of history fighting in the first ever non-title five-round fight, but I guarantee I won't even need three rounds in this fight."
The latest UFC 138 fight card includes:
Chris Leben vs. Mark Munoz
Renan Barao vs. Brad Pickett
Anthony Njokuani vs. Paul Taylor
Papy Abedi vs. Thiago Alves
Terry Etim vs. Edward Faaloloto
John Hathaway vs. Pascal Krauss
Michihiro Omigawa vs. Jason Young
James Head vs. Mark Scanlon
To date, the UFC has hosted just one show in Birmingham. UFC 89, which took place at National Indoor Arena in October 2008, drew 9,515 attendees and featured a headliner between Michael Bisping and Leben. The tape-delayed Spike TV broadcast peaked with 3.4 million viewers and averaged 2.6 million.
Source: UFC 138 airs at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Spike TV, Leben-Munoz and Pickett-Barao co-headline
