It was like pulling teeth, but the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) reached a new television deal in Russia.
Russian sports channel Match TV will broadcast UFC 209. The event takes place inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on March 4. Undefeated Russian lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov is going one-on-one with Tony Ferguson for the interim UFC lightweight title.
CEO of Match TV Tina Kandelaki spoke with TASS.ru (via Bloody Elbow) to discuss the new deal. She admitted that reaching an agreement was far from easy, but is glad to get it done:
“The negotiation process was difficult, and we are grateful to our partners for their mutual interest in staging UFC broadcasts in 2017. We are seeing increased attention for this tournament, not only in the media, but also among viewers. We are confident that all broadcasts will bring great pleasure and enhance sports viewership. We believe that the start of the season with the fight of Khabib Nurmagomedov will lead to even greater increase in the audience to the sport.”
The main event of UFC 209 will feature a welterweight championship rematch between title holder Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson. Their first encounter ended in a majority draw at the historic UFC 205 event in New York City.
