The Ultimate Fighting Championship has secured a major network deal. In a joint announcement today, UFC and FOX executives revealed a seven-year broadcast agreement that will include 36 live events per year including 24 new episodes of The Ultimate Fighter that will feature live fights on FX.

The landmark deal also includes six live UFC Fight Night events per year on the FOX-owned FX network, as well as two finale shows for seasons of TUF in 2012. Four live events per year will air on the FOX network itself, with the first card currently targeted for November 12th in Anaheim, California.

The agreement between the UFC and FOX follows months of speculation and reports that suggested that the world’s largest mixed martial arts promotion was in talks with NBC Sports and also looking to potentially purchase the G4 cable network in hopes of rebranding it under the UFC name. Instead, the promotion has landed a deal with FOX that UFC President Dana White says is what he always wanted.

In total, 36 live UFC events and episodes of The Ultimate Fighter will air each year on the FOX and FX networks. The deal is structured as follows:

– 24 episodes of TUF on the FX network featuring live fights. The show will now air on Friday night and fans will be able to vote on which matchups they want to see.
– 6 live UFC Fight Night events on the FX network.
– 2 live finale shows of The Ultimate Fighter, which will also air on FX.
– 4 live “big show” UFC events on FOX. The first of these cards will take place on November 12th.
– Additionally, episodes of UFC Unleashed and UFC Prelims Live will air on Fuel TV.

While control of production will reportedly remain largely in the hands of the UFC, some changes have already been announced, including the opening video montage that precedes all events. The UFC’s six-year relationship with Spike TV will come to an end at the conclusion of this year and the network will air its final season of The Ultimate Fighter next month.

“There have been a lot of milestones for me in the past ten years, but this is the biggest,” White said during the announcement. “This was it for me. This is the pinnacle.”

(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)