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Cain Velasquez listens on as UFC president Dana White talks ot the press in LA this week. Jae C. Hong/AP/Press Association Images
Ground and pound

Un-caged: UFC goes main-stream with new TV deal

The historic Fox TV deal was brokered in August and the move is seen by many to be a step into the main-stream sports psyche by the UFC.

THIS WEEKEND MARKS a watershed moment in MMA as UFC airs on the main US network channel, Fox, for the first time.

The historic TV deal was brokered between the two organisations in August and the move is seen by many to be a step into the main-stream sports psyche by the UFC.

Instead of the usual pay-per-view format, this event will air live on the Fox network this Saturday, while fans here in Ireland and the UK can also follow it free on the Setanta Ireland sports channel.

It is hoped that this will open the sport up to a whole new audience and is seen as the natural progression for this ever growing company.

JDS and Velasquez kick things off.

Due to the TV deal, the heavyweight title fight between Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos has gained colossal status both in and out of the Octagon.

The hype surrounding the event hasn’t done anything to detract from the fact that this is a huge match-up.

The unbeaten champ, Velasquez, returns to the Octagon just over a year after demolishing Brock Lesnar in a one sided bout.

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This time around he faces the Brazilian contender Junior Dos Santos who should prove a much stiffer test than Brock did.

Dos Santos is also unbeaten in the UFC with wins over Roy Nelson and Shane Carwin already under his belt.

Both of the heavyweights are deceptively quick and both are good with their hands so I suspect they will feel each other out on the feet in the early parts of the fight.

“Cigano” is accredited with one of the best stand-up games in the division so he could have the edge in the early exchanges.

As the fight goes on, I fancy Velasquez to weather the storm and to try to the take the fight to the ground as he utilises his superior wrestling skills.

With this fight too close to call, I’m sitting firmly on the fence for this one, saying only that I think the person with the best cardio will go on to take the victory.

Prelims aired live online.

With the new format of just the one live televised event, UFC.com are airing all the prelims live on their website, so fans won’t miss a thing.
Ben Henderson and Clay Guida provide the best of the action on the undercard as the winner of their bout will get a shot at Frankie Edgar and the lightweight title.

Clay Guida’s all action style has meant that he has rarely been involved in a boring fight and in Henderson, he comes up against a man who will equal or better his work-rate.

This has all the ingredients of being an explosive fight and as Henderson has won twelve of his last thirteen fights, he is the favourite.

I don’t think the former WEC lightweight champion will be able to finish Guida, but I do think he will be too strong for him over three rounds and will earn a hard fought decision victory.

DaMarques Johnson versus Clay Harvison and Dustin Poirier against Pablo Garza are also worth keeping an eye out for.

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