Dana White expecting Velasquez-Dos Santos title fight to be a Griffin-Bonnar moment in UFC on Fox debut
By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
UFC President Dana White was extremely excited to announce Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos headlining the UFC on Fox during a conference call on Friday, and for good reason. The Heavyweight Championship fight was already a massive fight, but despite the hardcore appeal, it's not necessarily a fight that would have sold extremely well on pay-per-view. By moving it from the rumored spot it would have had on UFC 139 the week after on pay-per-view to the Fox event, the UFC will provide their new television partner with an immensely anticipated Title fight, and will put these two potential stars in front of the biggest audience possible. "If you're going to go out on your first fight on the biggest network in the country, you go with your best foot forward," White said today (quotes transcribed by MMAJunkie.com). "We're going with a heavyweight fight that's going to be a barnburner. These guys are going to go at it and be exciting. It's more than just a heavyweight title. It's two heavyweights that I know are going to perform and put on a great fight." That's the gamble White is willing to make with such a big fight. As the only fight airing live on this historic event, the UFC is hoping this huge title fight can provide an action-packed experience for the likely millions that may be tuning in for the first time. But while the UFC is putting as much as they can into setting up the best experience, White understands that it will ultimately be up to Velasquez and dos Santos to deliver. "The way that I look at this fight, this is our Forrest Griffin-Stephan Bonnar, now on a huge, massive platform, and we need to deliver," White said. "There's no doubt in my mind, and I will bet anything and everything ? and am betting that ? that these guys are going to deliver. "I put on all the bells and whistles and do all the good stuff, and then those guys have to go in there and do their job when it's time. If you'll look over the past 10 years, I can count on one hand how many fights have sucked. You tell me the last time you saw Junior dos Santos or Cain Velasquez in a boring fight. I'm literally betting everything that it's not going to happen." Fox Sports President Eric Shanks said during the call that Fox will be making this a massive event from their end as well. With a plan to bring a "Super Bowl" level pre-game "tailgate party"-like show, complete with celebrities and a red-carpet and a huge outdoor party before the event, this is going to be a special card. While the original plan was to air two fights during the broadcast, having the Title fight be the sole live bout will allow the UFC to introduce the spot to new viewers, and if the fight ends early, more fights from the night's preliminary card could still air during the hour-long broadcast. "The way we're looking at this thing, there are going to be millions of people tuning into the UFC that have never seen it before," White said. "Some people are going to need to be educated on what the sport is, where it comes from. So we're going to need some time to kind of set up the whole, 'The UFC is on FOX' and what's going on. That's basically why it was done that way." Ultimately, this is going to be a huge event for the UFC, and massive exposure for Velasquez and dos Santos as well. Penick's Analysis: This is really the perfect fight for the UFC to bring to this Fox debut. They promised a major fight, and this absolutely fits the bill. They won't lose out on a ton of pay-per-view buys for 139, because they'll likely find a suitable replacement for that card - a replacement fight that could feature Anderson Silva - and because this fight may not have sold all that well as it is on its own. This is going to be a major event, and ads for the fight will begin airing during Fox Sports programming as early as tomorrow. Velasquez and dos Santos could become major household names after this event, and it's a great move on the UFC's part to put them in that position.
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Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_10331.shtml