For seven years, about the only thing to watch on Spike TV, other than Seagal straight-to-DVD movies, is UFC. Seriously, UFC Unleashed is on like every five minutes; along with seasons of The Ultimate Fighter, and preliminary fights before UFC events. But that is now about to change.

UFC is taking its talents to Fox, and the FX Network, which is essentially basic cable HBO. No complaints here, they have terrific programming.

That deal included four live specials, two seasons per year of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show, “Unleashed” – a compilation of one hour shows airing old fights, the important “Countdown” specials aired several times per week that build up the major pay-per-view events and other special programming. Shows like “Unleashed” and “The Best of Pride Fighting Championship” were cornerstones to Spike’s programming and as recently as two years ago, UFC programming often took up half of the network’s prime-time hours in a given week.

But will Spike be okay without UFC to bolster its programming? Well, probably not. Even with diminished ratings it’s still the only draw for the network.

UFC live events on Spike averaged a 1.7 rating from the inception of live specials in 2005 through 2009. But numbers declined to a 1.26 average in 2010. The three events so far this year have rebounded to a 1.37.

“TUF” has been a mixed bag. The late 2010 season featuring coaches Georges St. Pierre and Josh Koscheck was among the highest rated in its history. But even with the company’s biggest drawing card, Brock Lesnar, coaching against Junior Dos Santos in the spring 2011 season, it was the lowest-rated season in the history of the show.

“Unleashed,” a one-hour taped show, had declined more dramatically as the novelty of UFC programming wore off, dropping from an 0.8 average in the early days to an 0.4 this year. As numbers declined, so did Spike’s prime-time average, falling from a top-15 network to where it frequently struggles to crack the top 25. Over the past two years, the number of prime-time hours devoted to UFC has greatly decreased.

Whatever, just get rid of Tito Ortiz and let’s get this thing rolling!

(slams head into wall, stumbles backwards, falls over coffee table)

Update: The worldwide leader in sports is now reporting it, I guess it’s official.

Additional programming on FX, Fuel TV and Fox Sports Net launches in January. FX will host 32 live fight events a year on Friday nights, including six UFC cards and a complete revamp of the promotion’s instrumental reality program “The Ultimate Fighter,” which finishes its run on Spike TV with Season 14 starting in September.

Sounds terrific! Now I can tell the women that won’t date me that I am staying home for work!

The Deuce tends to play fast and loose with stories; leading our overzealous reporters to report on news that may not actually be true; like when I tell people that I have had sex with a woman; or that I am potty trained.

Today I come bearing better news that much like the NFLPA and the NFL owners, Zuffa and Golden Glory are in negotiations to bring Alistair Overeem to the UFC, to promptly pop the bubble of hype around the former Strikeforce heavyweight champion.

Fuel our anticipation and false hope, ESPN:

Bas Boon, who represents Overeem through Dutch management firm Golden Glory, clarified to ESPN.com that the 31-year-old fighter is currently “in a negotiation period with Zuffa.” Boon declined to discuss details, though sources familiar with the arrangement between Overeem and Strikeforce explained the fighter is bound to exclusive and separate 120-day negotiation and matching periods with the Las Vegas-based promoter.

Zuffa, through a representative, declined to comment on Overeem’s contractual status.

during a pre-fight interview for UFC on VS 5, Mr. Clean spokes model Dana White said that the UFC would love to add Overeem, but that Golden Glory (sounds like the production company my ex works for out in the Valley, she does DP, and I don’t mean baseball) would have to play by UFC’s rules. UFC doesn’t want to pay tribute to GG to use their fighters; they prefer to pay the fighters directly. GG counters that they handle promotion; marketing for the fights; and provide a buffer to ensure that international fighters get their proper attention, and protection, when they fight in the U.S. GG also promotes fights for Fedor Emelianenko.

Taking advantage of immigrants in one of the things America does best, so why should that change now? Also, don’t hold your breath waiting for Dana White to cave. He’s like a bald, blunt, and far less appealing Ronald Reagan. Okay, bad comparison GO WRITE YOUR OWN POST! (pops coin into Peep Show booth).

UFC welterweight Chris “Lights Out” Lytle called it a career Sunday night after locking in a nice little guilliotine near the end of the third round on a slightly, farty, and bloated heavy Dan Hardy in the main event of UFC on VS 5.

Hardy came to the weigh in at 171.5 and was given two hours to cut weight to qualify for the fight. He made it; but training with Big Country Roy Nelson had him looking a little soft around the middle.

Fill me in, USA Today:

He informed UFC officials of his decision before making the announcement.

Lytle leaves a legacy as one of the most exciting competitors in UFC. After losing six of his first eight fights for the organization from November 2000 to March 2007, he went 8-4 over the next 12 bouts. Lytle won eight fight-night awards, a total matched only by middleweight champion Anderson Silva.

Lytle is apparently eyeballing a career in politics; which would be highly useful if this were Taiwan but doesn’t really do much good in the U.S.

Still, it would be cool to see him debating issues. “Keysenian economic theory has been historically disproved and I encourage pro-growth policies that enhance the earning potential of all Americans, and if my opponent disagrees then I will choke him out,” I imagine Lytle stating at a picnic to enthusiastic applause and chants of “Four more years!”

So Kimbo Slice is again reinventing himself. The one time backyard brawler superstar turned perennial MMA assault victim is now attempting to become a professional boxer. Slice’s first match was this past weekend against James Wade (0-1 career) at Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Okla and to no one’s surprise, Kimbo won.

You can actually watch the entirety of the fight below as it lasted just eleven seconds. Yeah, eleven seconds. Quality fight right there. I mean, c’mon, even Don King is shaking his head at this match-up.

Regardless, enjoy watching Kimbo attempt to regain some semblance of a career…at least until someone asserts some copyright claim on the video.

After suffering a somewhat humiliating loss to Dan Henderson, who is better known to fight at middleweight, his third loss in as many fights, Fedor Emelianenko has been let go by the Titanic of MMA Strikeforce.

Naturally, UFC President Dana White handled this news with the circumspection and grace that we have come to know throughout the years. Oh wait, nevermind.

UFC president Dana White on Thursday confirmed his release to MMAWeekly.com.

“Yeah, he’s being cut,” White confirmed. “You guys thought he was the pound-for-pound best in the world, I said he was overrated for years.”

Emelianenko’s legendary undefeated run first came to a halt when he faced Fabricio Werdum last year, and after clipping the Brazilian early in the fight, he was submitted by triangle choke.

Bummer. But wait, there’s more!

According to White, he believes Emelianenko’s contract was up anyway, which paved the way for him not to come back to the promotion.

“Yeah, I think so as far as I know,” White said about Emelianenko’s contract.

White also stated he had no conversations at all with Emelianenko or his camp, and has stayed out of the situation since Zuffa purchased Strikeforce earlier this year.

It would have been cool to have Fedor in UFC during his prime; but his handlers protected him, at least some of the time, from fighting top quality fighters. Fedor went beatless for almost a decade; and has notches in his belt over the likes of of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic. His Pride fights are some of the best stuff you will ever see in MMA. Still, once he started fighting in the U.S. his aura collapsed like he was Kimbo Slice.

If UFC has taught us anything it is that on any given Saturday night you can fall. It’s not all just father time stuff, either, doing boxing exhibitions in half-empty arenas is not top-notch competition and won’t do you any favors during legacy talks. But I guess that doesn’t really bother Fedor; or at least it didn’t when he started doing it. I hope Alistair Overeem is paying attention to this development because he could be facing the same decision. If Overeem wants to do random boxing exhibitions for paydays, then fine; but it could eventually diminish his drawing power. Both fighters are represented by Golden Glory, a promotion that pays their fighters; and shields them from outsiders.