UFC on Fox 5 comes to us on Saturday, Dec. 8, and is already the talk of the MMA world. Despite having several exciting fight cards in the coming months, this event features exciting matchups between big names in multiple divisions.With an already stac…
UFC on Fox 5 comes to us on Saturday, Dec. 8, and is already the talk of the MMA world. Despite having several exciting fight cards in the coming months, this event features exciting matchups between big names in multiple divisions.
With an already stacked card, including a lightweight championship bout between Benson Henderson and Nate Diaz, along with Shogun Rua vs. Alexander Gustafsson and BJ Penn vs. Rory MacDonald, it is clear that the UFC is attempting to finally generate the huge numbers it’s been looking for.
There are a few schools of thought on the opening bout. Some feel that it should be between stars who are going to put on an entertaining scrap and that name value isn’t as important as the quality of action. Others think that another top name should be thrown in the mix to generate interest.
Keeping both mentalities in mind, I’ve put together a list of five fights that cover the entire spectrum. Some are bouts with “Fight of the Night” written all over them, while some keep in line with the “How is this on free television?” theme that the UFC has already started.
Here is a list of five fights to consider as the opening bout for UFC on Fox 5.
Rory MacDonald’s cut has opened up a feud with BJ Penn that has gone beyond innocent trash talk.A bout that was initially based on the respect of a rising, young star facing an MMA legend has turned into something much uglier.Penn is upset at MacDonald…
Rory MacDonald’s cut has opened up a feud with BJ Penn that has gone beyond innocent trash talk.
A bout that was initially based on the respect of a rising, young star facing an MMA legend has turned into something much uglier.
Penn is upset at MacDonald for withdrawing from their scheduled UFC 152 bout. According to “The Prodigy,” the cut is only a “detail” in a more elaborate reason for MacDonald not to step into the cage on September 22.
“I know the reason why Rory pulled out on September 22,” Penn told Sherdog.com. “The cut is a detail, but I know the reason why he pulled out is because he knew he wasn’t going to win.
“If he let the cut heal, tried to train, whatever it was, brother he should have been in shape already by the time he came in. For sure now, 10 weeks—10 weeks, I never heard of a guy pulling out of a fight 10 weeks from a cut.”
Penn makes some interesting points. Surely, it wouldn’t take 10 weeks for MacDonald’s cut to heal, but what about training? As announced by UFC President Dana White, MacDonald would have to go at least a month without any physical contact, which could seriously hamper his training camp.
If he ignores medical advice and trains anyway, he runs the risk of getting the cut infected and prolonging the injury.
MacDonald was in a tough situation, but he believes he made the right decision. With the bout now rescheduled for December 8, he has plenty of time to heal his wounds and put in a proper training camp for the biggest fight of his young career.
That’s just a bunch of [BS] because not only do I know I’m going to win, I’ll probably end up killing him. He can’t rile me up. I just think he’s a joker. He’s trying to get attention and his fans hyped up. He can do what he wants. I just want him to accept the fight for December.
If plans go accordingly, Penn and MacDonald will join a stacked UFC on FOX 5 card, which also features Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. Alexander Gustafsson and the lightweight title bout between Benson Henderson and Nate Diaz.
Can Penn derail the young phenom, or will MacDonald add a legendary name to his ever-growing résumé?
BJ Penn isn’t buying Rory MacDonald’s excuses for pulling out of their scheduled UFC 152 bout.At the post-fight press conference for UFC on FOX 4, UFC President Dana White informed the media that MacDonald pulled out of his fight with Penn after suffer…
BJ Penn isn’t buying Rory MacDonald’s excuses for pulling out of their scheduled UFC 152 bout.
Reporters on-hand were stunned when White broke the news.
“Rory’s out. He got cut open today, wide open, 38 or 48 stitches, something like that. No contact for a month,” said White.
None were more disappointed than Penn, who came out of retirement specifically for a shot at the rising welterweight star.
Despite reports of a cut, Penn told Sherdog.com he believes MacDonald’s reasoning for pulling out of the fight runs much deeper. He sees it as a case of MacDonald biting off more than he can chew and not preparing properly in camp:
I know the reason why Rory pulled out on September 22. The cut is a detail, but I know the reason why he pulled out is because he knew he wasn’t going to win. If he let the cut heal, tried to train, whatever it was, brother he should have been in shape already by the time he came in.
For sure now, 10 weeks—10 weeks, I never heard of a guy pulling out of a fight 10 weeks from a cut. Never in my life have I heard of a guy, 10 weeks before a fight he got cut and he pulled out.
Penn went through a similar experience leading up to his fight with Nick Diaz in October 2011.
During training, he suffered a laceration over his eye, but he still made the decision to continue training and take the fight. He sees MacDonald as having the same obligations to go out and compete for the fans.
There certainly was plenty of time for MacDonald to heal up for the fight, but his inability to spar would’ve seriously hurt his training. Is Penn right? Should MacDonald have already been in shape and ready to go?
Penn continues:
[Rory] feels he has to do what’s best for him, his team, they’re going to do that, but it’s a 100-percent fact the reason why they pulled out is because they knew they were going to lose on September 22. If not, you wouldn’t pull out.
Like I said, I had a cut on my eye, 13 stitches inside it and out five weeks before the Diaz fight. I didn’t care. For eight weeks, it opened up every single week, all the way to the fifth week before the Diaz fight, but did I ever think about pulling out? Not even once. Why? Because I owe it to the fans, I owe it to the UFC, I even owe it to Nick Diaz to show up to the fight.
The bout between Penn and MacDonald has been rescheduled for UFC on FOX 5. The extra time should only serve to fuel the growing beef between the welterweight stars.
On December 8, MacDonald will get his opportunity to prove Penn wrong.
When UFC announced the deal with Fox, fans were exciting about the idea of huge pay-per-view-worthy cards coming to national television. Then, UFC on Fox 1 rolled around and gave us…one fight.One.Granted, it was a heavyweight championship fight betwe…
When UFC announced the deal with Fox, fans were exciting about the idea of huge pay-per-view-worthy cards coming to national television. Then, UFC on Fox 1 rolled around and gave us…one fight.
One.
Granted, it was a heavyweight championship fight between Junior dos Santos and Cain Velasquez and featured dos Santos becoming the new champion with a first-round knockout. While it was a major step for the UFC, featuring one fight wasn’t quite the start fans wanted.
So, two months later UFC on Fox 2 featured three bouts on Fox including two title eliminators. All three fights were decisions that were fairly lackluster.
With the UFC wanting to guarantee the next Fox card more excitement, UFC on Fox 3 featured some of the UFC’s most exciting fighters Pat Barry, Rousimar Palhares, Alan Belcher, Lavar Johnson, Jim Miller and Nate Diaz.
It delivered with three of the four fights being finished, including Nate Diaz earning a lightweight title shot.
Earlier this month, UFC on Fox 4 came around and was hit hard by injuries that resulted in the main event being an odd pairing of Shogun Rua taking on Brandon Vera. Luckily for the UFC, the two men brought an exciting fight.
Although the card didn’t feature a lot of big names, all four fights on Fox were finished in what was one of the more exciting main cards the UFC has put on this year.
Now, we get to December’s UFC on Fox 5, and finally, it appears the UFC will give us a stacked-free card.
As it was announced by John Morgan of USA Today, UFC on Fox 5 will feature a lightweight championship bout between Benson Henderson and Nate Diaz, a light heavyweight bout between Shogun Rua and Alexander Gustafsson and the previously announced battle between returning B.J. Penn and Rory MacDonald.
If UFC on Fox hasn’t really clicked with viewers yet, this will be the card that does so. The main card only has three fights so far, but they include a title fight, a title contention fight and a “Big-Name” fight.
UFC on Fox 5 is still four months away, but if these men all stay healthy, we can expect the biggest UFC on Fox card yet.
Only 10 days out of their incredible UFC on Fox 4 event, Zuffa has formally announced their return to network television on December 8.Along with the official date, fans saw the announcement of three incredible fights with more to be announced in the c…
Only 10 days out of their incredible UFC on Fox 4 event, Zuffa has formally announced their return to network television on December 8.
Along with the official date, fans saw the announcement of three incredible fights with more to be announced in the coming weeks.
If you had the misfortune of missing the last UFC on Fox, you should still be kicking yourself now that one of the most entertaining cards in UFC history has passed you by.
Instead of harping on the past, we should look to the future and get ready for the next UFC on Fox. To help, here are five reasons that you should look forward to UFC on Fox 5.
A year on from their debut on Fox, the UFC will once again put on a card worthy of the partnership. The announcement that UFC on Fox 5 will be headlined by Henderson vs. Diaz and Penn vs. MacDonald is the first indication that the UFC is beginning to u…
A year on from their debut on Fox, the UFC will once again put on a card worthy of the partnership. The announcement that UFC on Fox 5 will be headlined by Henderson vs. Diaz and Penn vs. MacDonald is the first indication that the UFC is beginning to understand how to best exploit their national platform (via MMAFighting.com).
Earlier this month I criticized Dana White and Co. for their somewhat short-sighted approach to the Fox deal. So far they have failed to live up to their promise to “bring big fights back to network television”.
When the deal was announced last year, White took pains to assure people that the UFC would be looking to invest in the future; they would be willing to sacrifice profits over the short term in order to succeed over the long term.
After the admittedly big splash of the first UFC on Fox show, they reneged on that promise and instead served up glorified Spike TV cards for mass consumption.
It was a bewildering decision—utterly counter-intuitive to what we all felt was necessary for the UFC to take the next step.
Dana White would likely never admit it, but he appears to have taken the media’s criticism to heart. UFC on Fox 5 is stacked, offering a mixture of stars and sure-fire hit matchups.
Putting Nate Diaz in the main event is an excellent decision. He has already been exposed to the Fox audience, even if ratings for UFC on Fox 3 were well below what we had hoped.
His matchup with Benson Henderson is an example of a fight that everyone wants to see, but only the hardcore fans, for the most part, would be willing to shell out for.
Perhaps more importantly, it is a title fight and that means something is legitimately at stake.
We have been crying out for the UFC to provide fights with real stakes. Deciding to make two headline bouts a No. 1 contender eliminator, in a transparent attempt to give the card relevance, is not the way to build an audience.
On the other hand, offering a lightweight title bout between two fighters who are all but guaranteed to put on a show is how you build an audience.
Penn vs. MacDonald might not have much at stake, but it does boast a bona fide star.
One could argue that “The Prodigy” is past his prime. However, his name still carries weight, even with the casual fans. He will draw eye balls, and that is what the UFC needs.
Naturally, it would be silly to celebrate too early. We all know the UFC’s recent track record with injuries and cards being overhauled.
But at this point, it seems like the UFC is finally starting to learn its lesson.
When UFC announced the deal with Fox, fans were exciting about the idea of huge pay-per-view-worthy cards coming to national television. Then, UFC on Fox 1 rolled around and gave us…one fight.