“Bad Blood:Dana White vs. Tito Ortiz” airs Tomorrow on Spike

Spike TV will host a 90-minute special tomorrow night on the recently canceled exhibition boxing match between UFC president Dana White and former light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz.

Bad Blood: Dana White vs. Tito Ortiz airs Thursday, 11 p.m. ET/PT following the second episode of The Ultimate Fighter 5. Replays air Friday at midnight and Saturday at 2 p.m.

Since first seeing a teaser for this special last week during Thursday’s UFC Fight Night 9, I’ve been scrambling for information. Unfortunately, there isn’t much to be found.
First, a little background.

The boxing match was originally promised to Ortiz as part of his contract negotiations last year when he agreed to return to the UFC. Both White and Ortiz publicly stated on various occassions that the event might benefit charity, but neither ever seemed to know for sure.

Not long before the event was supposed to take place, the Nevada State Athletic Commission stepped in and said they would need to oversee the match. Both fighters were eventually issued boxer’s licenses, and the bout was scheduled to take place March 24 (with a Spike TV airdate of April 14).
However, Ortiz never showed for a mandatory weigh-in on March 23, the day before the event. Ortiz later issued a statement saying the UFC was going to make money off the deal and that he was essentially being asked to fight for free and with no contract.

NSAC officials sounded peeved about the situation and — in no uncertain terms — said they should never be bothered with such a circus again.
For the entire series of events, check out the UFCjunkie.com archives.
Fast forward to last Thursday, and Spike TV begins running an advertisement for Bad Blood: Dana White vs. Tito Ortiz.

From what little footage was shown, it appears the production focuses primarily on White’s preparation for the event. In the weeks leading up to the bout, he stated that he was taking the event very seriously and training appropriately.

There’s been some speculation that perhaps the fight was secretly taped and will be shown during tomorrow night’s broadcast. If true, credit the UFC with one of the most elaborate and unbelievable hoaxes in the history of professional sports. After all, I doubt the Nevada State Athletic Commission has a sense of humor with such matters.

Instead, tomorrow night’s event will likely focus on the timeline of events that eventually forced the cancellation of the fight. And while that may not seem like a good use of 90 minutes of national television time, I wasted a whole lot more time than that covering the fiasco here on UFCjunkie.com.