The first UFC fight on network television ended with a bang, both figuratively and literally.
“UFC on Fox 1” opened on Saturday accompanied by the same fanfare used for NFL broadcasts. It seemed like it was a huge playoff game, which was very fitting for a championship event that was inevitably going to feature hard hits. Pre-fight storylines, predictions, and Bruce Buffer’s public address announcing foreshadowed something else of a bigger magnitude.
Then the fight itself happened.
The heavyweight championship bout pitting contender Junior Dos Santos and ASU wrestling-alumnus and defending champ Cain Velasquez at first seemed to be a standoff with brief, sporadic combat, until Dos Santos quickly downed Velasquez with a lethal right hook. Dos Santos punished Velasquez with a flurry of punches to the head until the referee stopped the fight, giving the Brazilian the title.
This is exactly what the UFC needed to take off and expand its empire even higher. Casual fight fans want to see these battles end in stoppage, and commissioner Dana White gave these new viewers an excellent first impression.
And now that the UFC has a seven-year contract with Fox, the sky is the limit for mixed martial arts.
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