Pearson vs. Fisher Bout Airs Live On ESPN In The UK; Spike A No-Go For UFC 127

It’s not clear yet exactly what, if any, plans the Ultimate Fighting Championship has to air UFC 127: Penn vs. Fitch preliminary bouts when the company returns to Australia in February.

Fans in the U.K. can rejoice, however. The UFC on Friday, via its U.K. Twitter account, announced that Brit Ross Pearson’s preliminary bout against Spencer Fisher will air live on ESPN in the U.K.

A report from MMAJunkie.com revealed that Spike TV has no plans to air UFC 127 preliminary bouts, despite a recent announcement that the network would do so for 12 UFC events in 2011. MMAWeekly.com sources confirmed that Spike will not feature any prelims for UFC 127.

The UFC has experimented recently with its preliminary bout coverage. When Spike declined to air preliminary bouts for UFC 125, UFC president Dana White turned to the little know ION Television, an over the air broadcast network, to air three UFC 125 preliminary bouts.

For its recent UFC Fight For The Troops 2 event, the UFC streamed four of the preliminary bouts live on its Facebook page.

So there are still options the UFC can turn to for UFC 127 preliminary bout coverage, although the company has yet to reveal its plans.