I have a friend that has a few show like UFC programs recorded onto his Citywest hard drive thingy that was provided.
Is there a way he can transfer those onto his computer?
You would need a PVR that can burn DVDs or computer software that would record your video to your computer. There are enough outputs on the Citywest PVR to make some kind of transfer possible.
I think we went through this a long time ago – most of those ports are disabled.
What a piece of s…
Why not just download the shoes online?
You can’t transfer existing recordings.
You can use a media center platform to record them externally in real time using the firewire port which is live for the full meal deal. You will need the drivers (google the avsforums) which simulate a D-VHS deck over the firewire port, then its entirely regular video capture. I played with this and it works, but its more trouble than its worth.
Stick it to “the man” and get yourself a hacked dish, then you can record anything you want. 
P.S. I really do not have a hacked dish. That would be wrong.