The UFC on Tuesday morning confirmed it has terminated its agreement with Setanta Sports.

The news as the troubled pay-TV broadcaster went into administration on Tuesday afternoon after losing TV rights to both English and Scottish Premier League football.

Setanta went off the air at 6pm BST on Tuesday evening.

UFC UK Division President Marshall Zelaznik said: “It was with great regret that the UFC ended its relationship with Setanta. Over the last two years, Setanta has helped the UFC become the biggest indoor sporting event in the British Isles.

“They were the right partner for us at the right time as we continued to build the sport of mixed martial arts and our brand.

“Throughout the last few weeks we have been kept informed of the situation at Setanta and therefore we are in a position to ensure our UK and Eire fans will not miss any of this summer’s huge UFC events, commencing with UFC 100 in July.

“We will be announcing the new home of UFC shortly but assure our fans they won’t miss any of the upcoming super-fights.”

He added: “And on behalf of the UFC I want to wish the team at Setanta all the strength to get through what must be very difficult times. We have worked very closely with the entire Setanta team over the past years and wish them the best of luck in the future.”

iFight365.com understands that both Bravo and ESPN are in the running to land rights to the UFC and that an announcement regarding the future of UFC programming in the UK is to be announced in the very near future.

ESPN on Monday announced it had purchased rights to the 46 Premier League games that Setanta previously had the rights to and would show the games live in the UK in HD.

The UFC’s agreement with Setanta had around six months left to run.

Just hours after the UFC’s announcement Setanta Sports called in Deloitte to act as administrators for its UK business after last-ditch efforts to secure a rescue package failed.

Deloitte was appointed at around 2.30pm BST, with staff at Setanta’s UK offices told shortly before of latest developments. Up to 200 jobs will be lost as a result of today’s news, with more job losses in Setanta’s call centres likely to follow.

Its worth noting that Setanta’s operations in Ireland and overseas are not affected by today’s news.

Phil Lowe
phil@ifight365.com