Your weekly MMA TV Schedule update

nullIt’s another Sunday night, which means we have another MMA on TV update.

This week is pretty thin during the week as The Ultimate Fighter wrapped up its season, but the weekend still features another big UFC PPV, UFC 131.

– On Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET, the Countdown to UFC 131 debuts on SpikeTV. The hour-long program will take an inside look at key fighters for this Saturday’s PPV event. The main aspect of the show will focus on the main event between heavyweights Junior dos Santos and Shane Carwin. The show will replay on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET and 2 a.m. ET on Versus as well as midnight on Friday on SpikeTV.

– On Friday at 10 p.m. ET, HDNet will air Maximum Fighting Championship 30: Up Close & Personal live from the Mayfield Conference Centre in Edmonton, Alberta. The main event is a lightweight showdown between Drew Fickett and Brian Cobb while Marcus Davis and Pete Spratt meet in a fight between two UFC veterans.

– On Saturday at 9 p.m. ET on PPV, UFC 131 will take place from the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia. Carwin and dos Santos face off in the main event while Kenny Florian makes his featherweight debut against Diego Nunes. Demian Maia also faces off with Mark Munoz in a middleweight bout while Donald Cerrone takes on Vagner Rocha in a lightweight contest. Some of the prelim bouts will air live on SpikeTV at 8 p.m. ET and other bouts are expected to air live on Facebook.

  

What you might have missed: MMA news from the weekend

nullLost in the shadows of Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley Saturday night was a pretty eventful weekend in the MMA community.

Here are a few things I think you should know about:

-Saturday night, Bellator 40 took place and rising MMA star, Ben Askren, remained undefeated with a unanimous decision win over Nick Thompson in the main event. The two-time NCAA champion continued to show dominant wrestling form against Thompson, who was helpless against Askren’s takedown ability. Askren changed levels, worked in some striking, and had the cardio to dominate for 15 minutes. Askren is now 8-0 and, if he continues to develop his striking, he can be a real force in the national picture. In other bouts, Jay Hieron picked up a decision win over Brent Weedman to advance to the finals of the Bellator Welterweight Tournament, where he will face unbeaten Rick Hawn. In the Bellator Lightweight Tournament, Michael Chandler won a decision over Lloyd Woodard to advance to the tournament final against Patricky Freire.

-On Friday night, MFC 29 took place on HDNet and UFC veterans Marcus Davis, Hermes Franca, and Pete Spratt each picked up wins. Davis won a split decision over Curtis Demarce in his first fight after being cut by the UFC. Franca knocked out Robert Washington just 26 seconds into the second round, giving him two straight wins. Spratt pulled off an armbar submission in the second round of his fight against Demi Deeds. The win ended a two-fight losing streak for Spratt.

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