If you look at UFC history, you can pinpoint the moment when the promotion and the sport of mixed martial arts changed direction.
This was the first Ultimate Fighter fight between Stephan Bonnar and Forrest Griffin. The bout ended in a three round war in which everyone was a winner: Griffin, Bonnar, the fans and the UFC itself.
This weekend we will witness another major game changer in the world of sport, and the UFC history – when an event is aired, for free, on Fox Sports in the US with a heavyweight title fight between champ Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos.
The show in itself (in Australia showing on One HD at 1pm Sunday) is only an hour long, allowing the fringe viewers to gain an understanding and hopefully appreciation of MMA, without too much happening.
When announced the current fan base was left questioning this decision in regards to showing the Anaheim card as a one hour event; however a full undercard is available through Facebook including bouts between Clay Guida vs. Ben Henderson and Dustin Poirier vs. Pablo Garza.
A mainstream channel will create wonders for the sport, as it attempts to break through the market and reach the same branding level as Major League Baseball, the National Football League or National Hockey League.
However a differentiation between the UFC and these other sporting leagues is worldwide popularity. The UFC has already proven to be incredibly successful in overseas markets such as Abu Dhabi, England, Brazil and here in Australia, with UFC 127 selling out Acer Arena in a record 15 minutes.
It is a really unique situation that the UFC is currently in, with expansion happening both within the US and globally concurrently.
The marketing machine has been behind the UFC on Fox event. A large amount of hype and buzz has been generated, with Fox has been promoting it within other sporting codes with advertisements being aired during the MLB World Series and selected NFL games.
Turning to the main event, this bout really should deliver, with both Velasquez and dos Santos being quite explosive and entertaining fighters.
I wouldn’t expect this fight to go the full five rounds, so there may be the chance of seeing a preliminary card fight on the broadcast, with time permitting.
Velasquez is returning from 12 months off due to a rotator cuff injury that he suffered during his Championship win over Brock Lesnar, while dos Santos spent the last year coaching on The Ultimate Fighter 13 against Lesnar and ended up fighting Shane Carwin in that season’s finale.
If you have ever thought about watching a UFC event, I urge you to tune in. This is not only a chance to be educated but to witness the changing moment in the sports history. If you like what you see, then tune in the next week when Dan Henderson takes on Shogun Rua, which will also be a great event.
For those who are already fans, there should be no questions as to what you are doing on Sunday, a free title fight is few and far between and definitely shouldn’t be passed up!
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