UFC president Dana White
UFC president knows magnitude of Velasquez-dos Santos
Dana White rarely minces words. Wednesday was no exception.
The UFC president, leading a press conference three days ahead of his promotion’s Saturday network television debut on Fox, said there’s no disputing the magnitude of the heavyweight title defense of Cain Velasquez against Junior dos Santos.
“This is, without a doubt, the biggest fight in UFC history,” White said from the Nokia Plaza in Los Angeles. “This thing started as a small fringe sport and has grown to what it is today. This Saturday night, as we step out onto Fox, millions of people will see the UFC who’ve never watched before.”
Velasquez defends his title for the first time since taking it from Brock Lesnar at UFC 121 more than a year ago. Top contender dos Santos got his shot at the belt after beating Shane Carwin in June. Not long after the UFC announced a seven-year broadcast partnership with Fox, including subsidiaries FX and Fuel TV, White announced that the UFC’s debut on Fox would feature the heavyweight title fight – typically the most anticipated championship bout of any weight class in combat sports.
Even with champions like Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre, who have reached mainstream consciousness, and fast-rising champs like Jon Jones on his roster of fighters, White said the fight between Velasquez and dos Santos is the one he still would come back to for the company’s first big statement on Fox.
“As we take this step forward into what we call ‘mainstream,’ we were fortunate in that we were able to hand pick a fight that we wanted to put on Fox,” White said. “If I had to do it all over again, this is still the fight I’d pick to put on network television.”
The first UFC on Fox event takes place Saturday from the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., with a live network broadcast starting at 9 p.m. Eastern. The full card of preliminary fights leading up to the heavyweight title clash will stream at the UFC’s Facebook page and at FoxSports.com.