UFC 139: Dana White Is Right About Main Event Being the Wrong Fight for Fox

In the post-fight press conference, Dana White was asked multiple times how he would've felt if the main event match between Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Dan "Hendo" Henderson was on the Fox broadcast.

White responded quickly saying he would not be a happy camper.

Most MMA fans were perplexed by his statement. This fight was one of the best in the history of MMA, why wouldn't he want to show it to the world?

White cited numerous reasons but the most telling was when he told the reporters we (the fans) have no idea of what was going on backstage and what it takes to get the UFC to work on Fox.

Even though the fight between Rua and Hendo was an instant classic, White is right when he said this is the wrong fight for Fox.

Take a look at the Kimbo Slice-James Thompson bout. In the bout, Thompson's cauliflower ear basically exploded on national TV.

Although that is still a freak incident in MMA, it was turned into a much bigger deal than it actually was by the media following the event. Imagine what would be said about the amount of blood/swelling on "Shogun's" face as a result from that fight?

The UFC, and MMA in general, have come a long way since the days of "human cockfighting." But that doesn't matter to the average fan who happens to tune in on Fox one evening.

As White said, "We, as MMA fans, live in a bubble where this fight was considered a classic but if that were on national television people would be horrified by it."

The casual fan who watches MMA for the first time on Fox wouldn't understand the fight at all. To them it would be one guy (Rua) having his faced turned into a bloody mess and another guy (Hendo) being completely exhausted and nearly passing out inside the Octagon.

The education process is a slow, tedious one that hardcore MMA fans need to brace themselves for. The casual fan isn't ready for a match like "Shogun" vs. Henderson. They cannot and would not fully appreciate the match for the classic that it was.

We are all upset that we had to sit through 30 minutes of talking and only 64 seconds of fighting for the UFC on Fox but for many fans that was there first 60 minutes of MMA.

White makes a lot of bold statements and he wasn't short of them in the post-fight press conference, but the idea that this match would've been better for the UFC if it were on Fox is absurd.

The UFC needs to bring fans along slowly for the ride, increasing their knowledge as they go. They don't need all out wars to gain the type of fan that will watch the UFC on Fox for the first time.

For now, safe and simple is the way to go.