Report: Versus To Return To DirecTV

Thousands of MMA fans will turn on their television Saturday night, looking for some manly action like WEC 47 or Road House and come up empty. That’s probably because they foolishly purchased DirecTV, not knowing that the provider would soon cut Versus, home to ice hockey, second-rate racing leagues, rodeo, and cage fighting.

Luckily, that’s about to change. Sources close to the situation tell CagePotato that the dispute will come quietly to an end next week, with DirecTV subscribers once again able to purchase Versus as part of a special sports tier. While it won’t come in time for this weekend’s WEC card, MMA fans with DirecTV should have the opportunity to purchase the channel by the time the UFC runs its first event on the network later this month.

- Jonathan Snowden shares the news via Cage Potato

This has been a long time coming and clearly MMA fans with DirecTV have been missing out on great action from the WEC. Given that the UFC will be hosting events on Versus this is a huge, huge move for the network.

The news that it will be a part of a “sports package” which will cost extra is disappointing given that beyond their MMA and NHL programming the network features some of the worst sports broadcasting available. I’m sure MMA fans can justify the purchase by thinking of it as a cheap pay-per-view cost every month that there is a WEC or UFC event broadcast.