UFC on Fox: Just How Important Is the First Card of the New Deal?

UFC on Fox 1 is almost one month away.

Although only one fight will be televised live, it could not have been any bigger, as it will be Cain Velasquez defending the UFC heavyweight title against Junior dos Santos.

The Fox deal was not just major for the UFC, but MMA as a whole.

It won’t be the first time that an MMA promotion has been featured on network TV.

But with the sport’s biggest organization going to the same broadcasting company that hosts the Super Bowl, the World Series and NASCAR, it will be the first time MMA can be taken seriously by the mainstream public.

There’s no question that the title fight between Velasquez and dos Santos will go down as one of the most important heavyweight fights in UFC and MMA history.

But speaking from the standpoint of the deal, the card has to be a success.

Whether or not the card fails, diehard MMA fans will still be tuning in to view any of the UFC’s events on FOX.

But one of the main focuses of the deal was to bring MMA to the mainstream.

As diehard fans know, not every fight will be an exciting five round war like Edgar vs. Maynard II or have a memorable knockout by Anderson Silva.

Newer fans of the sport may not appreciate just how good Georges St-Pierre is because he is not knocking out every opponent or understand (or stay awake for that matter) during a Jon Fitch fight.

The matchup between dos Santos and Velasquez was a smart choice for the UFC because both fighters are known for keeping the fight on their feet and having exciting knock outs.

Although the UFC's deal with Fox is already set in stone, the first card will set the standard for what is to come.

It will be reminiscent of what Forrest Griffin vs. Stephen Bonner did for the UFC when they fought in The Ultimate Fighter Season 1 finale.