by Adam Lawman

In addition to the free fights set to air live on Spike TV, the UFC has announced via press release that they will be offering a free stream of at least two of the preliminary bouts for this Saturday’s ‘Fight for the Troops 2′ card. And it will all be available on Facebook.

In order to watch you must go to the UFC’s Facebook fan page and click the “Like” button. This will make it so that the UFC updates you with their news through your Facebook news feed but it also opens the door to viewing two prelim fights before the Spike TV broadcast. The fights will be under a tab on labeled ‘Free Prelims’ when you are on their fan page.

Fans who complete the required step will get to see ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ season 12 cast member Cody McKenzie take on MMA veteran Yves Edwards and his thugjitsu as well as a bout between another former “TUF” star DaMarques Johnson who is matched up against fan favorite Mike “Joker” Guymon.

This creates a huge possibility for the UFC to get some great publicity on the world’s largest social networking site. Friends will suggest to friends and so on thus creating a nice increase in attention. Plus, with having the fights right on their fan page it means you don’t have to go anywhere but Facebook to keep in the loop.

This is all part of the UFC and Dana White’s grand plans to utilize the power of the internet to capitalize on increasing their brand. I’d say there is a great possibility of more free content on Facebook as well as future online endeavors.

The free stream of the prelim bouts is set to begin an hour before the main card which means showtime online will be 8 PM ET/5 PM PT. Then turn back to your TV for the Spike broadcast at 9 PM ET/6 PM PT.