[EmpireWF]

For roughly the past year, the UFC and HBO have been in negotiations to bring the number one mixed-martial-arts organization to the popular premium cable channel. Early on, it looked like the deal would get done however the HBO executive who was championing the UFC stepped down due to personal problems (he was reportedly seen being violent towards a girlfriend, he then allegedly went to rehab).

Ross Greenberg was then in charge of the negotiations and it was reported in several places, he was never thrilled about the UFC and MMA. It's along the lines of the old boxing guys not being happy with the MMA stepping on their turf. The biggest hold up has supposedly been production. UFC has wanted to keep their control over their own production while HBO has wanted to control it. It was rumored Max Kellerman would be involved in a play-by-play role although UFC's Mike Goldberg is probably the most popular man in the United States.

HBO released the following statement, "After lots of discussion, it became apparent that the business model doesn't make sense for either one of us," Greenburg said in his statement. "So, we've agreed to go our separate ways. You never know what the future holds. We have enormous respect and admiration for the executives we dealt with at the UFC. We wish them well."

UFC President Dana White responded, "We'll come to a deal with HBO, I'm 100 percent confident of that. Ross is probably pretty happy now, but we'll get a deal done with them. Believe me, we will. They want the deal, I want the deal – and when two sides want the deal, it gets done."

Also, an interesting nugget from the Yahoo! Sports article says Dana White and the UFC are working on a potentially major TV deal with ESPN for 2008.

"White said he expects the UFC to have a significantly larger television presence in 2008. The UFC is working on a long-term extension with Spike and is negotiating with another network White wouldn't name, though it is believed to be ESPN.

"We're going to make another big announcement about (TV) that is going to blow people away," he said. "You never know who that might be. You'll have to wait and see."