Velasquez, dos Santos to battle on UFC's FOX debut

Nitesh Dutt
CSNBayArea.com

Cain, right, will defend his title on the first UFC on FOX event.

When Dana White announced that the UFC would be making its long-awaited debut in San Jose in November, rumors grew that heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez would defend his title against Junior dos Santos as the main event.

Then, when the UFC signed a seven-year deal with FOX Sports, there were rumors as to what fights would be featured on the UFC’s broadcast debut.

With one major announcement, White answered both rumors. 

The Nov. 12 FOX debut will be one-hour long, with one five-round fight. That fight? Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos for the UFC Heavyweight Championship. 
For those complaining that White did the wrong thing by taking a championship fight and putting it on free-TV, I'm betting you’re the same crowd complaining about prices for pay-per-view fights? 

Anyways, putting this title fight on free television as the UFC’s introduction to a new cable audience is sure to build a new fan-base for mixed martial arts. Plus, with a PPV the following week the UFC might be building to something very epic and a great fight on TV might lead to more sales.

So, returning our focus to the Bay Area, who will headline UFC 139 for their San Jose debut? Well, there are several choices. 

Josh Koscheck is slated to make his return to the octagon, as will Urijah Faber. There are plenty of matches that could take the place of Cain vs. JDS.

But, one possible match-up will stand out to MMA fans around the globe. This is hypothetical, but who knows where it will lead. 

If reports are true and former Strikeforce heavyweight Alistar Overeem is ready to sign with the UFC, and former champ Brock Lesnar is ready to make his return to the octagon, why not make it happen for UFC 139? 

Of course, this is just a thought. I don't make matches nor do I know the status of these two fighters, but would it not be a great two weeks of fights for the UFC? I think so.


Be sure to follow me on Twitter @NiteshDutt and read more of my MMA blogs at Inside the Cage.