UFC on Fox 1 discussion thread

[gutterhippo]

Well, this forum has been collecting dust for some time now, and hopefully this thread sees more than cobwebs, but what has been touted as one of the most historic events in UFC history will take place later tonight. The bad part is that the Fox-televised event will only feature one fight. The good part is that the one fight is for the heavyweight title fight, and the other 9 fights, including Clay Guida/Ben Henderson, will be on facebook.

Any last minute thoughts/predictions for the show? On Sherdog, it looks like most of the fighters they asked are going with Junior Dos Santos, but I'm going to have to go with Cain Velasquez in this one. Junior has a puncher's chance, but Cain seems to be a more complete fighter. Either way, it should be a great fight. As for Guida/Henderson, I'm going with Guida. Clay has played the role of title eliminator fighter for a while now, and I'm hoping he's finally able to break into the title picture. I expect Guida's usual smothering wet blanket attack en route to a unanimous decision victory.

[coalition77]

I was really surprised that the main fight was so short. I thought for sure that Cain would be able to withstand Junior's initial barrage and be able to bring him down to the mat and take advantage of Junior's negligible ground game. But Junior proved that he's one of the best stand up fighters right now. Title is having trouble staying in one place.

[DJ]

UFC really dropped the ball on their inaugural show, and perhaps the Fox Execs have something to do about it so I won't crap on them too much. 64 seconds of fighting on their debut? Not very good, especially when they could have easily shown Clay Guida vs Ben Henderson within the same hour, which from what I hear was a FOTY candidate.

As for the Heavyweight division, it seems like there will be some stability now that JDS won the belt. I've been hearing all along that all these top guys were just killing time until Dos Santos, a big time talent, was ready and built up enough for his title shot. Can't wait to see if he lives up to the hype. I like Cain Velasquez so no diss on him, but there's no question Dos Santos has the skills to clean out the division.

I hope though that we will see the Heavyweight Title defended more from here on out than it has recently. The division really has had some bad luck. The title has been on the line only 3 times since UFC 100 (excluding interim title matches), and really for an ever growing company and sport you really need more than that, because as talented as the other divisions are, some of them by far more talented than than the big guys, the heavyweight division is the money division in the long run. People just love to watch this 250 pound dudes slug it out.

I guess going ahead will see JDS vs Lesnar/Overeem. I don't know why but I have a feeling Lesnar is going to pull it out.

As for Velasquez, I could see Shane Carwin as a good bounce back match. Velasquez should win it, but it wouldn't be the easiest bounce back match he could be offered. Plus Joe Silva would have to consider whether they want to take that chance of Carwin losing 3 Straight. Roy Nelson would be a nice option, he probably has some hype after beating everyone's favorite Cro Cop. Although, honestly, Velasquez should easily wipe the floor with Nelson.

[gutterhippo]

As I understand it, it was Fox's call to only air JDS/Velasquez. But, I don't think Dana helped matters when he told critics to "shut up" and buy a ticket if they wanted to see Guida/Henderson. I think with the debut on Fox, their thinking was that they needed to introduce the world to MMA and the fighters. What they really underestimated was how mainstream the UFC already is. They really didn't need to have 30 minutes of countdown material before the fight, and should have planned better for the possibility of JDS/Velasquez being so short. I think we will see some changes to the next Fox UFC show, seeing as how the ratings were a bit under what was expected.

I saw the Guida/Henderson fight on facebook, and it was a pretty good. I wouldn't go as far as to say it was FOTY, but it was a solid bout. Unfortunately, Guida remains in his title eliminator role. I think Guida has a better chance at Edgar than Ben Henderson, but I guess we'll see what happens.

I have to disagree that Junior is going to clear out the division. He's a good striker with good discipline, but it's not like he completely destroyed Velasquez. Velasquez got caught. Not taking anything away from the win, but I don't think it really showed that Junior was clearly the dominant fighter. But maybe that's just wishful thinking, since I have liked how much the HW belt has bounced around as of late. The last thing we need is another Anderson Silva or GSP, where they're scrounging for interesting fights left for these guys.

I know it's not in the cards, but I personally would love to see an immediate Velasquez/JDS rematch. Just given how short the fight was, I think they left fans really wanting more, which arguably was the whole point of the Fox debut.

[DJ]

Yeah I would love to see an immediate rematch, cause you're right, Velasquez got caught, unlike Lesnar who was just simply outclassed by Cain's striking. But I think they will go their usual route, with Velasquez getting a win or two before a rematch takes place. That's why I'm curious as to whom they will match him against. I didn't think about it before, but maybe Frank Mir if he beats Big Nog again.

In the end though, I think JDS is a better fighter overall than Velasquez, but not by alot. Honestly, I've loved to see Cain win the rematch so this could turn into a trilogy.