Dave Meltzer is reporting (via Fightline) that UFC 89 will air for free on SpikeTV in the United States. UFC takes place on October 18 in Birmingham, England, so it will obviously probably air both in the afternoon and then replay again at night (Update: MMA Junkie now reports that this event will air via 5 hour tape delay in primetime; also, the UFC will hold another PPV event the week after UFC 89).

So far, we know that Michael Bisping will face Chris Leben at that event, but now MMA Weekly is reporting that Thiago Alves v. Diego Sanchez is also going to happen at UFC 89. That should be a scintillating fight; Alves is on a roll with wins over Karo Parisyan and Matt Hughes, and Sanchez looked awesome at the The Ultimate Finale with his victory over Luigi Fioravanti.

First we get the July 19 Ultimate Fight Night, and now UFC 89 is going to be free. It looks like the UFC is trying to prove to the new Affliction promotion that it’s not going to be beaten.

It’s almost time for the finale of this season’s Ultimate Fighter. The main event features Evan Tanner v. Kendall Grove in a Middleweight clash. Here’s the full card:

Main Card 

• Middleweight Bout: Evan Tanner v. Kendall Grove
• TUF Tournament Finale Middleweight Bout: C.B. Dolloway v. Amir Sadollah
• Welterweight Bout: Diego Sanchez v. Luigi Fioravanti
• Lightweight Bout: Spencer Fisher v. Jeremy Stephens

Prelims

• Middleweight Bout: Jeremy Horn v. Dean Lister
• Middleweight Bout: Matthew Riddle v. Dante Rivera
• Welterweight Bout: Josh Burkman v. Dustin Hazelett
• Middleweight Bout: Marvin Eastman v. Drew McFedries
• Middleweight Bout: Rob Kimmons v. Rob Yundt
• Welterweight Bout: Matt Arroyo v. Matt Brown
• Middleweight Bout: Tim Credeur v. Cale Yarbrough

I’m really excited to see if Amir can pull it off again against C.B. Dolloway. If he can keep it standing, he’s definitely got a chance. I think that’s his strength here, even though he beat C.B. with an armbar in their last fight. I hate to see Team Rampage lose, but I think you have to root for Amir here–he’s just a great story.

I’m also excited to see Spencer Fisher v. Jeremy Stephens. That fight should be off the charts. The main event should also be solid, but I think it might end up as a ground war if Tanner can dictate the pace. In a recent appearance on Inside MMA, Tanner sounded like he was really focusing on his ground attack for this one. That should be a nice change of pace since I’ve been watching a lot of EliteXC lately.

It’s great to see some of the guys from the show on the preliminary card–I’ll pick Tim Credeur in an easy win over Cale Yarbrough (why is he on this card?), and I’ll take Matt Brown over Matt Arroyo. Finally, in a battle of two guys from this season, I think Matthew Riddle beats Dante Rivera in a close one.

Discuss TUF Finale here.