It seems that reports of the demise of Marcus Davis’ fighting career have been greatly exaggerated.

The Bangor native, one of 18 men picked to compete in Spike TV’s second season of the 13-episode “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series, is back in the ring and on the tube as part of a Saturday Ultimate Fighting Championship extravaganza in Las Vegas and on Spike.

Starting at 9 a.m., Spike TV will air a 12-hour “The Ultimate Fighter” marathon with all of this year’s shows. That precedes the final show, a live installment that will pit the remaining two fighters in both the welterweight and heavyweight divisions against each other for multiple-year, six-figure UFC contracts.

Davis, who was a professional boxer with a 22-1-2 record before switching over and training as a mixed martial arts fighter, lasted four episodes before being eliminated from the series, but will have a second chance of sorts Saturday. He will take his 9-3 UFC record into a preliminary bout on the undercard of Saturday night’s live championship bouts. The 5-foot-10, 170-pound Davis will receive $5,000 to fight and another $5,000 if he wins.

Davis’ fight against fellow TUF Season 2 participant Melvin Guillard isn’t scheduled to be one of those televised, but could be if it is moved to fill one that doesn’t go off. The live, four-bout portion of the fight card will start at 9 p.m.

Crocker in uncharted waters

Maine native Ian Crocker is the “co-star” of the first documentary film of its kind concerning the sport of swimming. “Unfiltered”, an unprecedented, behind-the-scenes look at the lives of Crocker and fellow Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps is out and available for purchase online.

The 85-minute DVD focuses on Crocker and Phelps during their four months of training prior to the 2005 World Championships, but also includes highlights from their 2004 Olympic games in Athens and the 2003 World Championships plus collegiate events. It also features interviews with both swimmers and their family members, coaches, friends, media personalities like Bob Costas and Matt Lauer, and even Donald Trump, who presumably didn’t tell anyone they were fired.

Scenes for the video were shot in Portland as well as other locations worldwide. The DVD is available at $24.99 per copy (plus shipping) online at www.swimwiththestars.com and will soon be available at Olympia Sports retail stores.

The video doesn’t just explore the highs of both swimmers’ lives. Crocker’s battle with clinical depression and Phelps’ drunk driving charge are explored as well.

Swim With the Stars is a property created by sports and entertainment marketing firm Octagon in partnership with Portland native Crocker, Phelps and fellow Olympic gold medalist Lenny Krayzelburg in an effort to raise swimming’s profile.

NESN puts Sox on Now

Boston Red Sox fans can get their offseason fix this winter.

New England Sports Network will debut “Red Sox Now,” a half-hour program, Wednesday at 7 p.m. The weekly offseason program billed as a hot stove news and commentary program will run 23 weeks and be hosted by former Portland Pirates radio play-by-play voice Tom Caron. It will feature a variety of in-studio guests talking about Boston’s prospects and reports from various offseason events.

Disney kicks in $100M for Cups

ABC and ESPN bought U.S. English-language television rights for the 2010 and 2014 World Cups from FIFA for $100 million in a deal announced Wednesday.

The deal with the networks, owned by The Walt Disney Co., also includes rights to the 2007 and 2011 Women’s World Cups, and the 2009 and 2013 Confederations Cups.

The 2010 World Cup will be played in South Africa and the 2014 tournament in South America, with Brazil the leading candidate to be the host. ABC will televise at least 10 matches live during each tournament, including the final. The 2007 women’s tournament is scheduled to be in China.

According to Associated Press reports, Soccer United Marketing, an affiliate of Major League Soccer, paid $40 million for rights to the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, next year’s World Cup in Germany and the 2003 Women’s World Cup, originally scheduled for China but moved to the United States. SUM then reached deals for ABC and ESPN to broadcast the games.

Andrew Neff can be reached at 990-8205, 1-800-310-8600 or at aneff@bangordailynews.net