Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl

The UFC announced yesterday that two of Saturday night’s preliminary bouts will air on the massive social networking site.

Those interested in watching simply have to click the “Like” button on the UFC’s Facebook page. They will then be able to see TUF 12 alum Cody McKenzie look to extend his unbeaten streak to 13 against veteran Yves Edwards,  as well as TUF 9 finalist DaMarques Johnson squaring off with Mike “The Joker” Guymon in a battle between fighters who will be featured in tomorrow’s On the Chopping Block segment. The stream begins at 5 p.m. PST (8 p.m. EST) and will serve as a lead in to the free Spike TV broadcast of the company’s second Fight for the Troops show, an event headlined by an intriguing lightweight battle between Evan Dunham and Melvin Guillard.

Doing something like this continues to show the brilliance of the UFC, both in comparison to their MMA counterparts and other major sports organizations. They have thoroughly embraced social media as a marketing and promotions tool and use that to their advantage, pulling in a large portion of their audience for the demographic that uses sites like Facebook and Twitter frequently throughout the day. You don’t see a great presence from the NFL, NBA or NHL on either of those sites, and while their fan-base is still strong, the people who will be paying for seats in ten years time aren’t being engaged the same way they are by the UFC, and that could cause changes to the sports hierarchy in the future.

Written by E. SPENCER KYTE & Full Story here