Saturday, November 12, 2011

UFC on Fox review

I thought UFC's debut on national television was a success.  The production aspects of the show were spectacular.  The set looked great and I thought Curt Menefee, Dana White, and Brock Lesnar did a great job with their pre-fight and post-fight commentary.  The show had a pretty good flow for only broadcasting one fight.  As far as the fight goes, it went almost exactly as the experts predicted.  Unfortunately, I thought it was a little disappointing though.  With Velasquez being out for over a year and Dos Santos claiming to be less than 100%, neither guy seemed to be at the top of their game.  It wasn't terrible, but it was far from what I think they would deliver if they were both 100%.  On a normal night, it wouldn't be that big of a deal.  But I think the fighters being less than 100% was exacerbated by the fact that it was the only fight on the broadcast.  If the show had been a half-hour longer, allowing the Guida-Henderson fight to be air on television, I think the show would've felt much stronger.  It's one thing for the fight to not deliver the quality expected.  It's another for it to happen as the only fight airing on TV.

But that's what happens in unscripted sports.  Not every fight delivers every time out.  The important thing for the UFC is that they delivered on the things they could control.  The production was great, they crowned a new heavyweight champion, and they promoted their next two big heavyweight fights (Lesnar-Overeem and the winner taking on JDS).  Which is why I consider the show a success, in spite of the fight not being as good as it would be under different circumstances.  I look forward to the day Velasquez and Dos Santos cross paths again and I look forward to many more UFC broadcasts on Fox.

Velasquez the underdog?

I was reading Sherdog’s “Pros Pick” article for tonight’s heavyweight title fight between Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos and I was surprised to see that 12 experts picked Dos Santos to win, while only 4 picked Velasquez.  I wonder why they favor Dos Santos so much.  He didn’t finish Roy Nelson or Shane Carwin, what makes them think he’ll finish Velasquez?  Do they think he has a weak chin?  If memory serves, he did get a little rocked in his fight with Cheick Kongo, but he seems to have a pretty good chin.  Besides, Carwin got a little rocked in his fight with Gonzaga and he wasn’t finished by JDS.

Or is it because Cain hasn’t fought in over a year?  Are they banking on Cain having ring rust?  Because if Cain’s cardio is close to normal, and Dos Santos can’t finish him before the championship rounds, then this fight is Cain’s to lose.  Basically, Dos Santos has to do what he couldn't do to Carwin or Nelson or he's in big trouble.  I’m not saying JDS doesn’t have a shot, but I’m surprised he’s the favorite.  Regardless, these guys are the two best heavyweights in the world and it doesn’t matter to me who wins.  Should be an excellent fight.  It's about time the UFC debuts on national television!