With the success of the pre-UFC 103 telecast on Spike TV, the UFC will once again air preliminary bouts prior to the upcoming UFC 104 pay-per-view telecast. A free one-hour special on Spike will feature Ryan Bader taking on Eric Schafer and Antoni Hardonk battling Pat Barry.

This will mark the second consecutive UFC event to feature preliminary bouts on a free Spike telecast. On September 19th, the promotion aired a one-hour special of live and pre-taped undercard bouts prior to the PPV that drew an impressive 1.4 million viewers.

With the success from UFC 103 and a significant increase in quality among undercard fights, fans now have an opportunity to watch more fights and more action from each of the rapidly-expanding cards that the Ultimate Fighting Championship creates.

The promotion was previously criticised for increasing the prices of its pay-per-views while continuing to air just half (or fewer) of each event’s scheduled fights. The new agreement with Spike will hopefully be a sign of things to come in the future.

Fights confirmed for the pre-UFC 104 airing are a light heavyweight bout between TUF Season 8 Winner Ryan “Darth” Bader and Eric “Red” Schafer and a heavyweight tilt pitting Antoni Hardonk against fellow striker Pat “HD” Barry.

Other fights from the UFC 104 preliminary card may also air on the Spike telecast if time permits.

The real winners with this announcement are the fans, who will once again be able to enjoy more of the action from another solid UFC card.