According to UFC.com, the interview will be focused on the UFC’s new video game, UFC Undisputed 2009, as well as Saturday’s UFC 98 pay-per-view.

The May 19th episode airs on NBC at 12:35am ET.

Here’s the official description of the segment:

Dana White is not your ordinary sport commissioner. At 39, the president of Ultimate Fighting Championship is both czar and star of one of the world’s fastest growing sports – mixed martial arts. He is at the epicenter of an enterprise that has moved from spectacle to sport in less than a decade. Under White’s leadership the UFC, among the world’s largest providers of pay-per-view programming, has been valued by Forbes at about $1 billion dollars.

White is outside-the-box, and at times, out of control. Last month, he created a national stir after posting a three-minute, profanity-laced tirade on his website aimed at MMA reporter Loretta Hunt. For this story an E:60 crew had unprecedented access to White over a four-month period – following him to UFC events in Las Vegas and Montreal, and travelling with him to New York and Boston. The result is an insightful profile by E:60’s Tom Farrey that takes an in-depth look at White, arguably the most polarizing leader in sports, who has made enemies and allies at nearly every turn.

Also, here’s a preview of the segment profiling White:

(Pictured: UFC President Dana White)

Here’s a description of the show from UFC.com:

UFC All Access Wanderlei Silva Hosted by Rachelle Leah on MTV2 – Go behind the scenes with Octagon Girl Rachelle Leah as she hangs out with UFC light heavyweight fighter Wanderlei Silva. See what’s happening with Wanderlei as he prepares to fight Chuck Liddell - the fight everyone in MMA has wanted to see for years.

The UFC’s official preview show for the December 29th PPV, “Countdown to UFC 79: Nemesis”, will debut December 26th at 11pm eastern time on Spike. It will also air December 27th at 1:30am on MTV2, December 27th at 11pm on Spike, December 28th at 10:30pm on MTV2, and December 29th at 6:30pm on Spike.

The show will be replayed on Thursday, November 15th at 11pm ET and Saturday, November 17th at 6pm ET.

UFC has just notified me that president Dana White will be making an appearance tonight on Spike TV’s Scream 2007 show to announce Wanderlei Silva’s first UFC opponent.

Scream 2007 will air tonight at 10 p.m. EST.

The horror-genre awards show is pre-taped and will follow “The Tuffest 25 Moments”, a show highlighting the top 25 moments from the first five season of The Ultimate Fighter. The show will be hosted by Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar and will also feature commentary from additional cast members.

Continue reading for a preview of the show…

There are three key goals of UFC television programming at this point: build brand awareness, create stars, which are really all about number three, sell pay-per-views. At some point advertising revenues and television rights fees will become more significant considerations, but there are no indications that we are close to that becoming a reality with pay-per-view accounting for 75% of revenues. In light of these goals each potential television partner brings different strengths and weaknesses to the table.

A deal with the ESPN, the Worldwide Leader in Sports, would put the UFC squarely into the mainstream of the sports world. Going mainstream is key to the UFC’s continued growth because reaching the casual sports fan is the difference between a wildly successful show (500,000-750,000 buys) and a blockbuster (750,000-1,000,000 buys). The network has already proven its power through its promotion of Liddell-Ortiz II and Liddell-Jackson II. Both of those fights received significant coverage on ESPN and not coincidentally are believed to be the two top grossing UFC pay-per-views of all time.

The network’s addition of NASCAR this year provides a blueprint for what ESPN could do for the UFC. The network has done a terrific job of embracing NASCAR as a new television property, devoting the entire year to enhancing the brand through saturation marketing and programming across its family of networks. A similar push for the UFC might include the return of Inside UFC, regular features on Sports Center, and promotional appearances across the rest of the network’s programming (such as Pardon the Interruption, The Jim Rome Show, etc.) in addition to any potential live events.

However, there are risks to an exclusive partnership with the network. While the UFC enjoys the advantages of being Spike’s number one property, the brand would rank significantly lower in the ESPN hierarchy. The NFL, NBA, MLB, NASCAR, College Football & Basketball, would all rank above the UFC in terms of network priorities. As a result there is a real possibility that the UFC could get lost in the shuffle.

On the other hand Spike is heavily invested in the UFC’s success since the network’s success is largely tied to the brand’s success. Spike builds its television schedule around its UFC programming including extensive marketing blitzs for live events. When the UFC needs television time all it has to do is ask. UFC events on Spike are given the top priority while on ESPN at best they would receive equal billing with the week’s biggest traditional sporting events.

While a deal with ESPN would bring tremendous mainstream exposure, a deal with HBO would bring prestige and legitimacy to the sport and the brand. HBO Sports is one of the most respected entities in the sports world, the gold standard as White has called it. The UFC on HBO would signal the sport’s arrival and clearly establish the UFC as its premier brand. The price to pay for this legitimacy however appears to be relinquishing production control, something the UFC has been steadfastly unwilling to do.

Other professional sports broadcasts feature independent announcers and producers hired by the network who televises the event. In contrast the UFC’s broadcasts are produced in house. White other sports sell television rights, the UFC essentially sells a complete ready-to-air product, featuring company employees as announcers pushing the product in a manner closely resembling professional wrestling.

I think the production of the UFC has played a huge part in not only the brand’s identity but it’s success. The format provides continuity and allows the company to seamless promote its live events. The use of in house announcers is particularly effective at promoting the business and also allows the company to maintain complete control over how the brand is presented. Furthermore, without the UFC’s signature production the broadcasts risk becoming more bland and generic, losing what Mark Cuban calls the “spectacle” atmosphere that has been so successful. The gladiator opening sequence with its Optimus Bellum Domitor theme, Joe Rogan, and Mike Goldberg in many ways are the UFC.

It appears that White hopes to have the best of both worlds by reaching deals with Spike and ESPN, as well as eventually HBO. How these deals would fit together is pure speculation, but we can safely assume that each deal would involve exclusive content thus increasing the amount of UFC television. That realization raises a key concern that has emerged over the last year: oversaturation.

White is on the record that oversaturation is not a problem. He likes to point the NFL as an example that as long as you produce a quality product, you can never have enough. The decline in the ratings of the Ultimate Fighter seems to tell a different tale, however, it should be noted that this has not yet impacted the pay-per-view business. The effect of more live events on television could be a different story.

It would seem that, at least in the short term, it is in the company’s best interest to keep live fights on television rare in order to preserve the significance of the pay-per-view events. It seems logical to conclude that the more common place live fights become on free television, the more selective viewers will become in their pay-per-view purchases. However, there is a counter view that the more exposure you give the product on free television, so long as its a quality product, the more pay-per-views you can sell.

The company will run 19 live events this year and an increase in the number of live events next year seems inevitable. If an agreement with ESPN materializes it will almost certainly include live fight cards and its hard to imagine Spike renewing without live content. The question becomes how many more events is the company capable of producing per year without a sacrifice in quality? Some would argue that the company has already been stretched thin by this year’s slate of events, not merely in the talent department but also in the Zuffa organization.

One plan that doesn’t seem to be in the offering: weekly live events. Tuesday night fights was the original concept pitched by White to Spike. However, earlier this year White stated that he didn’t think the talent was available to produce such a show.

Go behind the scenes with the UFC’s Forrest Griffin as he prepares for his biggest fight yet against popular PRIDE fighter Shogun. Hosted by Rachelle Leah.

The show will debut September 20th at midnight on Spike.

The show will be re-aired on Thursday at 10pm and Saturday at 6pm.

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I also wanted to pass along some other news and notes regarding MMAFrenzy.com’s coverage of UFC 75. We will be doing dual live blogs of the event starting Saturday at approximately noon ET.

Our first live post of the day will include in-depth, blow-by-blow results of all 9 fights but don’t worry about us spoiling the results, they will all be kept off the front page. Visit Saturday night for our second live blog of the fights as they air on Spike TV. This will provide two opportunities for fans to share their opinions on the action that plays out without having to avoid our website all day long.

Between now and the event will will be debuting a new poll each and everyday seeking your opinion on the fights. First up is Houston Alexander vs. Alessio Sakara so head to the right sidebar and vote.

We will be introducing several competition and new features between now and the event so stay tuned for you chance to win some UFC gear.

Until then check out the UFC 75 fight card as well as the UFC 75 archives for more news from the event.

The UFC will debut a new show next month entitled “UFC Wired”. The show, which will be hosted by Joe Rogan, will feature fights from the UFC past in a similar fashion to “UFC Unleashed” but with a focus on introducing the sport and its history to new fans as well as show historic bouts from the past. The show will air in or near primetime to give the UFC major exposure and is currently set to be shown in 85 percent of the US. The show is expected to air on the Fox network of stations.

For those worried that UFC programming may move from the Spike TV cable channel to the premium HBO, Spike TV and the UFC are in progress of finalizing a deal to keep The Ultimate Fighter, UFC Fight Nights, and other UFC programming on the network past 2008 when their current contract expires.

HBO will host mid-level UFC events which are above the status of fight nights but not PPV quality. With Spike looking to expand their UFC Fight Night offering beyond the typical 5-7 events a year and the UFC unlikely to cut back the number of PPVs anytime soon this can mean one thing: more UFC events. With HBO in need to events these are likely to simply be additional events and should not take away from the number of Fight Night and PPV events the UFC already holds. Though no contract is in place yet with HBO White was confident in the article saying the deal “would happen”.

“UFC Wired” is expected to debut in September while the UFC’s programming on HBO has yet to be scheduled pending the finish of their contract negotiations.

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The article also has some information on where the UFC is planning on holding future, overseas shows. Here’s a piece of the article:

White said plans are in the works to take the UFC series “Live Event” on a world tour, with four stops in the U.K. and additional stops in continental Europe, Australia, Japan, Korea, Mexico and Canada.

10:00 PM - 11:00 PM, ET/PT

UFC UNLEASHED
After losing a light heavyweight championship bout to Chuck Liddell in April of 2005, Randy Couture retired from the UFC and was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. In March of 2007, almost two years after retiring, ?The Natural? came out of retirement and stepped up to the heavyweight division to take on champion Tim Sylvia at UFC 68. In front of a sold out crowd in Columbus, Ohio, Couture put on a performance for the ages in pulling off one of the greatest upsets in the history of mixed martial arts.

11:00 PM - Midnight, ET/PT

COUNTDOWN TO UFC 74Spike TV takes a behind-the-scenes look at the upcoming pay-per-view which is headlined by Couture?s bout with Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 74, along with The Ultimate Fighter alumnus Josh Koscheck squaring off against Georges St. Pierre for #1 contender status in the UFC welterweight division.

Midnight – 12:30 AM, ET/PT

UFC ALL ACCESS: RANDY COUTURE
Hosted by Rachelle Leah, UFC All Access will take a look at Randy Couture?s life and intense training regimen as he prepares to defend his heavyweight title against Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 74.

12:30 – 1:30 AM, ET/PT

UFC UNLEASHED

From UFC 54: Boiling Point, Randy ?The Natural? Couture battles Mike Van Arsdale in his first fight following a loss to Chuck Liddell in their second meeting at UFC 52. Other bouts include Frank Mir vs. Tank Abbott and Chuck Liddell vs. Jeremy Horn.

1:30 AM - 2:30 AM, ET/PT

PROS VS. JOES SEASON 2Pros vs. Joes is the show where ordinary guys face off against some of the greatest professional athletes in the world. In this episode, three regular guys step inside the Octagon to square off with Randy Couture in a wrestling match. Other featured athletes include Michael Irvin, Jose Canseco and Kevin Willis.