On Friday, UFC President Dana White made a big announcement, unveiling the line-up for the promotions first event on FOX television.
White announced one bout for the one hour television show, a UFC heavyweight title bout between champ Cain Velasquez (9-0) and top contender, Junior dos Santos. The two will meet at on February 12 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
Velasquez was approached by USA Today after the announcement to get the champs thoughts on fighting on FOX.
Besides being honored to fight, in what could be the biggest mixed martial arts on television, Velasquez also noted that despite the loss of pay-per-view income, the UFC promised that in the long run the two would make a lot more in the end.
“I said ‘Great.’ It’s definitely a big thing with them having that partnership, and then for us to be on that first fight on Fox is a big thing. So I said yeah. I was all for it…”
“(The UFC) took care of it (loss of PPV income). They’re telling us we’re going to make so much out of it. It’s all working out, so we’re happy… ”
“Yeah. I’m happy that they chose our fight. It’s perfect timing. I want everybody on Fox to see my fighting style, to really become a fan of the sport. The way that I throw and the types of fights that Dos Santos has, it’s going to do that. We’re going to be guys that people are going to be looking to.”