Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos only bout being shown on FOX regardless of length

MMA fans hoping more than one bout might grace the airwaves on November 12 when the UFC makes its historic debut on FOX were left disappointed this afternoon when head-honcho Dana White shot down the notion in a conference call with media.

White, without citing any specific reasons, explained the show’s main event between heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez and powerful Brazilian Junior dos Santos would be the only match-up making the FOX broadcast regardless of whether the title-fight went five rounds or five seconds.

“There’s going to be a lot of backstage features, we are going to be talking to both guys backstage before they fight which isn’t something we’ve done for a very long time,” White explained in relation to how time will be filled while making it clear he wasn’t concerned about the situation based on how incredible Velasquez vs. Dos Santos should be, adding, “I know for a fact this is going to be an awesome fight. I know it is going to be great. That’s why it was these two in this position. I have no worries at all this is going to be a great fight.”

Other bouts booked for UFC on FOX 1 include Dustin Poirier vs. Pablo Garza and Ben Henderson vs. Clay Guida. Fortunately, while FOX may only feature a single fight, all of the evening’s preliminary pairings will be streamed live through the UFC’s Facebook page.

—

MMATraining Take: I have to believe there’s some sort of contractual conflict preventing FOX/UFC from showing more than one scrap since I have a hard time grasping the notion either prefers “filler” to “fighting”. Bear in mind the UFC’s deal with the broadcasting giant doesn’t actually kick in until January so there are still some paperwork issues being dealt with behind the scenes (most likely with Viacom who own Spike TV).