UFC 127 Prelims to Air on Ion, Stream on Facebook

Alexander Gustafsson’s UFC 127 bout will be broadcast on Ion Television. | Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

The promotion announced Monday that two fights from the UFC 127 undercard will stream on Facebook at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, followed by another pair of prelim bouts on the Ion Television network at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. The event takes place Sunday afternoon at the Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia, and will air live in North America on Saturday night due to the 16-plus hour time difference.

Featured on the Facebook stream will be the UFC debut of “Mongolian Wolf” Tie Quan Zhang, who drops to 145 pounds for the first time to meet Jason Reinhardt, as well as a light heavyweight contest between Australian veteran Anthony Perosh and Englishman Tom Blackledge. Saturday will mark the UFC’s third time streaming undercard bouts on Facebook, where fans are required to “like” the promotion in order to access the fights.

The Ion Television broadcast is set to include a 205-pound matchup between Australian-based New Zealander James Te Huna and once-beaten Swede Alexander Gustafsson, plus a lightweight tilt pitting “The Ultimate Fighter” season nine winner Ross Pearson against 12-time UFC veteran Spencer Fisher. The UFC has aired fights on the American network once before, as a lead-in to UFC 125 on Jan. 1.

UFC 127 will be headlined by a 170-pound showdown between former two-division champion B.J. Penn and welterweight contender Jon Fitch. The pay-per-view broadcast will start at 7 p.m. ET/ 10 p.m. PT.