MMA: Was the UFC on FOX 2 Televised Main Card a Failure?

As the dust settles from the UFC's second appearance on the Fox network, the event's results were a far cry from the promotion's first show late last year.

While that event saw just 64 seconds of action, as Junior dos Santos captured the heavyweight belt with a knockout of Cain Velasquez, the second event failed to deliver any finishes in the three main-card bouts.

For die-hard fans of the sport, the three fights going the distance came as no surprise. But for casual or new fans, the outcomes were not the action-packed excitement that they were expecting after the first card.

A last-minute injury to Mark Munoz just two weeks before the event played a major factor in how the fights played out in Chicago. Chris Weidman stepped in on just 11 days notice to take on Demian Maia, and Maia's original opponent, Michael Bisping, moved in to replace Munoz against Chael Sonnen.

The Maia vs. Weidman fight was a perfect definition of the phrase "styles make fights," as the two grappling stalwarts spent the majority of the three rounds on their feet. The sloppy, predictable exchanges became harder to watch, as both fighters struggled with their conditioning in the final round.

Weidman's win was impressive for someone who dropped nearly 50 pounds in less than two weeks to make the 185-pound limit.

In the co-main event, oddsmakers had middleweight Chael Sonnen as a 5:1 favorite over Bisping.  However, the wrestler's strong takedowns were largely nullified by the British fighter, and the pair battled back and forth until the final bell. With the narrow decision win, Sonnen earned a second title shot against Anderson Silva.

Finally, in the main event, light heavyweight Rashad Evans fought safely and smartly for the full 25 minutes to hand previously undefeated Phil Davis his first loss. Evans showcased his experience by out-striking and out-wrestling Davis throughout the fight and earned a chance to challenge current champion Jon Jones in April.

It's impossible to say whether or not Munoz's participation would've changed the any of the outcomes, but even casual fans have to understand that fighters at the pinnacle of the sport have the skills to finish fights, as well as prevent themselves from being finished.

Undoubtedly, the UFC was expecting more from the card, but it was far from a failure. Finishes in the sport of MMA are never a given. In a sport where anything can happen at any moment, on this night, it happened to be three consecutive decisions.

Rob Tatum is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. You can also find Rob’s work at TheMMACorner.com.  For anything related to MMA, Follow @RobTatumMMA.