The Ultimate Fighting Championship has a new home on television ? at least for one night.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) has learned that Ion Television has secured the rights to broadcast preliminary bouts from the forthcoming "UFC 125: Resolution" event.

And while UFC fans are now used to a pair of octagon clashes during most "UFC Prelims" broadcasts, UFC president Dana White told MMAjunkie.com he's upping the ante for New Year's Day.

"The prelims we do air, there's only supposed to be two," White said. "Time-wise, it's impossible to pull off three if they all go to the distance. I'm going to roll the dice on this thing.

"Not only are we going to bring the prelims to the fans, but everybody has been hammering me for the Phil Baroni-Brad Tavares fight, so I'm going to do three fights. I'm going to give them that fight, too."

Featuring a lightweight title fight between current champion Frankie Edgar and top challenger Gray Maynard, "UFC 125: Resolution" takes place Jan. 1 and airs live on pay-per-view.

In addition to the Baroni-Tavares fight, White said two other highly anticipated contests ? Marcus Davis vs. Jeremy Stephens and Josh Grispi vs. Dustin Poirier ? will be featured on the Ion Television broadcast.

"I always try to give the fans as much as I can give them," White said. "I love being able to give them free fights. That's always been my goal and my model with this thing since day one.

"I grew up watching free fights in TV with boxing, and I loved it. I was a huge fan. I always try to give the fans as much as I can."

Ion Television, which was launched in 1998 as PAX TV, was rebranded as Ion Television in 2007. The channel was also known as i from 2005 to 2007.

According to White, Ion Television is currently available in more than 100 million homes. The UFC boss said he valued the opportunity to bring three highly demanded fights to the masses, especially as fans continually hammer him to make up for some widely criticized previous contests.

"The prelims were not supposed to be aired for this show, but I know the fans are always asking how I'm going to pay them back for some other shows," White said. "Well, here you go. If everything else I do isn't enough, let this one be it.

"These guys are considered a network. The FCC calls them a network. This is the first time we've ever been on network television, and the prelims are going to be aired. It's a big deal. It's in over 100 million homes."

Of course, with any new broadcasting deal, questions arise if perhaps this new channel could be the permanent home of the UFC ? or even the future destination of a fully dedicated UFC channel.

White refused to speculate, but he did seem very happy with his newest broadcast partners.

"We're going to talk to these guys and see what's up," White said. "This might be a regular thing.

"Listen, it's a ballsy move to go on network with prelims, but the Ion guys are the real deal. We're going to see if we can make it happen with them."

For more on UFC 125 , stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.

(Pictured: Phil Baroni)