ufc UFC on Fox: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos

[D. S. Veteran]

So it's finally here, the long awaited debut of UFC on networks TV. The FOX show only has garanteed the HW title fight with some other very important fights only being shown online at Facebook or FOX.com. Or for those lucky ones that have FOX Deportes, there. So here's is the card:

Preliminary card (Facebook and FoxSports.com)

Mike Pierce vs. Paul Bradley - Pierce returns to MW to rematch Paul Bradley whom he already beat in 2009. Both fighters lost at UFC 133.

Alex Caceres vs. Cole Escovedo - Pretty much a loser goes home fight. Caceres lost his two previous UFC fights at FW and now makes the drop to BW in order to get one more fight. In front of him is Escovedo who's also on a 2 fight skid as a BW and 1-4 in his last 5 fights overall (not in the UFC). He did face much tougher competition than Caceres but if he ends up 1-5, he's probably going home. Escovedo is a former WEC FW champion so I really don't see Caceres taking this one.

Mackens Semerzier vs. Robert Peralta - Peralta makes his UFC and FW debut against Semerzier, whose last win was against Alex Caceres after going 1-3 in the WEC. His last WEC fight was FOTN so let's see if this one delivers.

Norifumi Yamamoto vs. Darren Uyenoyama - Yamamoto fizzled in his UFC debut, losing to Mighty Mouse. He tries to rebound from that loss and prove that japanese fighters aren't an overall flop against Uyenoyama, who sounds japanese but is in fact american. It's a gift wrapped fight to salvage whatever is left of Yamamoto's career and prestige before the UFC heads out to Japan. Let's see if Kid can take advantage of it.

DaMarques Johnson vs. Clay Harvison - Johnson had a tough loss against Amir Sadollah in his last fight and now fights Harvison, a TUF 13 fighter who lost in the quarter finals to Ramsey Nijem by 1st round RNC. This one could go either way but Johnson is the more experienced and well-rounded fighter.

Aaron Rosa vs. Matt Lucas - Rosa finally does drops to LHW instead of fighting fatty fat fat in a bid to remain in the UFC instead of having to do freakshow fights at Titan FC. He faces Matt Lucas, a UFC newcomer with a record of 14-2 mostly against guys with losing records in Rage in the Cage. Let's call it a battle of the can crushers.

Cub Swanson vs. Ricardo Lamas - Two time FOTN recipient Swanson, whose only losses at FW are to Mendes and Aldo, #1 &2 FW in the world, faces off against Lamas who had a nice streak going in the WEC and finished his UFC debut with a nice KO. This should be a very fun fight.

Dustin Poirier vs. Pablo Garza - Future FW title shot implications here. Poirier killed Josh Grispi's chance at a title shot with great striking and grappling and his now 2-0 in the UFC as a FW. He's ranked as the #5 FW in the world but I think that's an exageration since he only fought twice at that weight. He's nonetheless a very competent fighter who can possibly challenge for the title. In front of him is The Scarecrow, who also is 2-0 as a FW but with two finishes that won him KOTN and SOTN. Despite this, Garza isn't ranked in the Top 10. The winner of this fight should probably go on to face Erik Koch.

Clay Guida vs. Ben Henderson - #1 contender fight for the LW title. This fight should be brutal. Guida is a cardio machine and very well rounded. He derailed the Pettis hype train and now faces the last guy that "lost" to Pettis, Ben Henderson. Henderson gets this shot after raping previous #1/2 contender Jim Miller (who was on a 7 fight tear in the division) with absolute ease. Henderson is huge for a LW and combines his size and strenght with great striking and grappling. Guida will have to bring his A game in order to win this fight and bring it he certainly will. FOTN candidate for sure.

Main Event

Cain Velasquez vs. Junior Dos Santos - The fight I've been waiting for since Cain vs Lesnar was announced. Top 2 HW in the world go at it in a fight that's surely FOTN and FOTY candidate. Velasquez, undefeated, talented wrestler with amazing striking against JDS, hands down the best striker in the whole HW division. I give a slight edge to Velasquez because of his wrestling skills but JDS is no slouch with his sprawl and will have certainly been working on his offensive and defensive grappling. If JDS can keep it standing (which he must), this fight is going to be awesome.

[Zoom7000]

According to Gareth Davies of The Telegraph, this will be free for UK viewers. :D

@GarethBOXUFC - Twitter

[D. S. Veteran]

Tonight!

Everyone made weight. JDS looked pretty impressive despite only weighing in at 239lb. Brock Lesnar should probably take a hint.

[+StevoFC MVC]

So stupid that the whole card isn't on television.

[D. S. Veteran]

So stupid that the whole card isn't on television.

It would be hard to televise the whole card but at least the Guida vs Henderson fight should be shown. They are in a race against the starting time of the Pacquiao PPV. The sacrifices they have to make for a network TV stage.

[trag3dy]

Are they actually going to show any fights? Maybe they could show them if they cut out all the boring talking and repeating the same things over and over.

If this is what "ufc on fox" is then I'll pass. So far it's a total yawn fest. However it is amusing listening to Brock try to say "Velasquez".

[Yorak]

Bwhahaha JDS just like I predicted. :-) He is such a good guy and definitely deserves the title.

[NoLiMiT06]

A whopping 1:04 fight.... No wonder this was televised for free....

[DavidM]

Wow, what a waste of time and effort, I don't see many more on Fox. The showed one lame fight, I thought it was an early stoppage, but Cain didn't, it looked like he threw the fight. They spent 37 minutes talking about Cain's effort and desire being unmatched, then he gets KO'd in a minute and four seconds....

If this is the UFC on Fox, I'll know better than to miss a little of the Family Channel re-run of the Harry Potter matathon.....

[deuz]

So stupid that the whole card isn't on television.

That is weird. The international feed had all the fights..

[D. S. Veteran]

A whopping 1:04 fight.... No wonder this was televised for free....

Wow, what a waste of time and effort, I don't see many more on Fox. The showed one lame fight, I thought it was an early stoppage, but Cain didn't, it looked like he threw the fight. They spent 37 minutes talking about Cain's effort and desire being unmatched, then he gets KO'd in a minute and four seconds....

If this is the UFC on Fox, I'll know better than to miss a little of the Family Channel re-run of the Harry Potter matathon.....

Would you prefer a 12 round lukewarm decision like the Manny Pacquiao fight? This was a HW fight between the heaviest hitter in the HW division and a Top 5 hitter. Nobody was expecting it to last more than 1 round. The UFC did a boo-boo in not putting up the other fights, opting instead for a big infomercial on the UFC but this doesn't retract anything from the fight itself. Cain tried to take it to the ground but JDS's power was just too much. He didn't seem that out of it after the knockdown but he wasn't defending adequately on the bottom and got pounded out for the win. If Brock vs Overeem is for #1 contender, the next title defense will be awesome.

Ariel Helwani confirmed that JDS fought with a torn meniscus :| What a beast.

[D. S. Veteran]

Just watched the Guida vs Henderson fight. WOW what a fight. Frankie Edgar may very well start kissing his title goodbye.

Henderson will have a huge size advantage and is smart enough not to gass himself out like Maynard.

[mikebiacsi]

I really hope that's the last time the UFC is on Fox, what a pile of crap!

[D. S. Veteran]

I really hope that's the last time the UFC is on Fox, what a pile of crap!

Sorry to disapoint you but they are signing a 7-year networks TV deal.You'll be seeing the UFC on FOX quite frequently.

[dippednbutter]

I don't mind free fights but just wish it was plural. Happy JDS took it though. Lame for the US, the whole card was on ESPN Spanish or something. Tried watching some of the uploaded videos but they were quick to take it down. Had to read about it and stare at a few Gifs, boooo.

Oh well, next weeks card is interesting. Can't wait.

[D. S. Veteran]

And much like I said, Erik Koch faces Dustin Poirier at UFC 143. The Superbowl Weekend card where GSP, Diaz and Condit will fight.

[Matrix XII]

The production was far worse on Fox than PPV. I don't watch the UFC as much now, but that definitely wasn't as good.

I am happy that JDS won though, seems like a pretty nice guy.