By Brett Okamoto

Published Monday, June 29, 2009 | 11:02 a.m.

Updated Monday, June 29, 2009 | 11:03 a.m.

The UFC announced early Monday morning it has finalized a deal with Inner Mongolia Television to bring the UFC to television in China.

Known as NMTV, Inner Mongolia Television is a network broadcast station available in 80 million households.

The deal begins airing UFC programs immediately, including the hit reality television series “The Ultimate Fighter”, UFC Unleashed, UFC All Access and an option to air recent UFC pay-per-view event telecasts.

This step is just one of many the UFC has taken to continue the global expansion of the brand. Currently, UFC programming can be seen in over 100 countries and territories worldwide in 17 different languages.

“Concentrating on worldwide awareness and the marketability of the UFC is opening up opportunities,” said UFC Octagon announcer, Bruce Buffer, who was recently involved with the UFC’s first show in Germany earlier this month. “It took one show in Germany to make them appreciate the athleticism of this event. What you saw there, you’re going to see in other countries as we continue to move forward.”

UFC president Dana White is especially excited about taking the company to a country with as much respect and understanding of mixed martial arts as China.

“Obviously China is a huge market and the Chinese understand the martial arts better than anyone else in the world,” White said in a released statement. “It’s a no brainer that UFC programming will be appreciated in China and will become a big hit for the NMTV network.”

The deal involves NMTV airing up to 16 hours of UFC programming per month. It’s estimated that those programs have the potential to reach 240 million viewers.