Monday, March 21, 2011

UFC considering earlier start time for UFC 129

The UFC is reportedly thinking about moving up the start time of the pay-per-view portion of UFC 129 to 9 p.m. E.T.

Two sources confirmed that at least one date will definitely be impacted. The change will be in play for the first time at April's massive UFC 129 event in Toronto, which will take place on April 30. On that night, the pay-per-view telecast will begin at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, one hour ahead of its usual time.

This comes as welcome news for a few different groups.

First, for print and television media, an earlier start time means that they have a chance at making deadlines. With most pay-per-view events ending around 1 a.m. ET, newspaper writers have no shot of making the print edition of the Sunday sports page. If they publish it on Monday, it's old news.

For events in the Eastern and Central time zones, it will also help fighters and sponsors. One of the ways that fighters can make sponsor money is to make an appearance at a post-fight party. The later the fight ends, the less likely it is that a fighter can make it to the party before last call.

Fans across the Eastern time zone, where most of the country's population lives, will also find this as a welcome relief, as the late start time can test everyone but night owls.

What do you think? Are you in favor of earlier start times, or would you like the UFC to keep its night owl ways? Tell us in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/UFC-considering-earlier-start-time-for-UFC-129?urn=mma-wp8

Paulo Filho Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic Luiz Buscapé Firmino Spencer Fisher

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