Spike TV to Carry UFC 115 Prelims

Spike TV officials on Tuesday announced plans to feature a pair of UFC 115 “Liddell vs. Franklin” preliminary lightweight matchups on June 12 at the General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Bouts pairing “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 6 winner Mac Danzig with Matt Wiman and Tyson Griffin with Xtreme Couture Mixed Martial Arts stablemate Evan Dunham will take center stage on the network at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. UFC 115, headlined by a showdown between UFC hall of famer Chuck Liddell and former middleweight champion Rich Franklin, will air on pay-per-view an hour later.

Griffin, 26, has lost two only two men -- current lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and former lightweight titleholder Sean Sherk -- as a professional. The Sacramento, Calif., native has not set foot inside the Octagon since he stopped Hermes Franca on second-round strikes at UFC 103 in September. In 16 career bouts, Griffin has never been finished. He was the first man to defeat former World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight king Urijah Faber.

The undefeated Dunham has delivered six of his 10 victories by submission. A Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt, the 28-year-old submitted “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 8 winner Efrain Escudero at UFC Fight Night 20 in January. Dunham, a native of Portland, Ore., holds other notable wins against Cleber Luciano, Dustin Akbari and Pride Fighting Championships veteran Marcus Aurelio.

In the other televised preliminary match, Danzig will square off with Wiman, a quarter-finalist on Season 5 of “The Ultimate Fighter.”

Based in Los Angeles, Danzig has lost three of his last four fights but defeated Team Alpha Male’s Justin Buchholz by unanimous decision at UFC 109 in February. A polished and well-rounded mixed martial artist, the 30-year-old has secured more than half (10) of his 19 career victories by submission. Only two men -- Josh Neer and Hayato Sakurai -- have finished him.

Wiman recovered from back-to-back losses to Jim Miller and Sam Stout with a unanimous decision victory against Shane Nelson at UFC 107 in December. Wins over the world-ranked Michihiro Omigawa and the highly regarded Thiago Tavares anchor his resume.