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[trustkill]

Link to full article: UFC boss says FOX viewers wouldn't have been ready for Henderson vs. 'Shogun' | MMAjunkie.com

SAN JOSE, Calif. – It's already earned praise as one of the greatest fights in UFC history – if not MMA history.

But Dan Henderson's epic victory over Mauricio "Shogun" Rua in Saturday's UFC 139 main event could have been disastrous had it aired on FOX instead of pay-per-view, UFC president Dana White told MMAjunkie.com (UFC blog for UFC news, UFC rumors, fighter interviews and event previews/recaps | MMAjunkie.com).

And if you don't agree, well, you know the drill: You can shut your pie hole.

Following Henderson's unanimous-decision victory over Rua at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., the question was obvious: Would a legendary fight such as Henderson vs. Rua been a better debut on FOX than Junior Dos Santos' 64-second knockout of Cain Velasquez that took place this past week?

No, White said. Not even close.

In fact, the bloody, thrilling and exhausting 25-minute affair probably would have been too much for newbie MMA fans to handle.

"If that fight that happened tonight went on FOX for the first time ever, let me tell you what – I would not be having a good time these last five or six days," White said when MMAjunkie.com asked him the question. "We've got to ease our way – look, we live in this bubble, gang. We live in this bubble that the rest of the world doesn't live in and doesn't understand. We're still in an education process and educating the masses about what the sport is and what it's all about.

"Those of us who are in this room and people who have been watching this for a long time just incredibly appreciate what those two did tonight in there, and you can understand what they went through and what's going on. The rest of the world would go, 'Oh my God. What was that?'"

Dos Santos, who took Velasquez's heavyweight title with the Nov. 12 victory, was part of the most-watched MMA fight in U.S. history. The fight, which was the UFC's first on network television, was brief, and less than two percent of the one-hour special ultimately showed any live fighting. But with general sports fan who have been conditioned by boxing to believe that heavyweights fighters are the most dangerous fighters, the UFC on FOX headliner served its purpose.

And though White took some flack from for telling fans they should shut up if they didn't like the selection of Velasquez vs. Dos Santos, well, he's not softening that stance.

"I said it before, and I'll say it again: If I could go back in a time machine and do the FOX fight again, it would be done the same exact way – exactly the same way," he said. "The hardcores can [expletive] about that fight. I couldn't care less what they think about that fight. I don't care. People are like, 'Oh, you don't care what your fans think?' No, I do not care what you think. That fight had to go the way that it went because none of you guys understand what goes on behind the scenes."

White said the FOX events have to be treated differently than the usual UFC shows. While entrenched and veteran MMA fans understand a bloody fight isn't necessarily a dangerous fight – and that two exhausted fighters isn't always a sign of poorly conditioned athletes – the average Joe probably doesn't.

That's why an absolute show-stopper such as Rua vs. Henderson probably wouldn't have been appreciated – and likely even would have been criticized – by mainstream audiences.

And if you don't agree with him, well, don't expect sympathy.

"Those of you that think we didn't do the right thing on the first FOX fight do not understand what it takes to build this sport beyond national television," White said. "So shut up again."

I'm not a Dana-hater, but I think it's obvious that he's flexing his promoter muscles talking silly shit like this. Rua vs. Henderson was exactly the performance they were hoping to get for the FOX debut. That fight last night would have built a huge audience over the course of 5 rounds and would have been ratings gold. It's not Zuffa's fault the fights play out the way they do, I'm just saying Dana's not being genuine here.

[Chute_Boxe44]

Another question is how can anyone still be against 5 round non title fights after a main event like that last night hahaha

[Lesnar_FTW]

I definitely disagree with Dana on this one. He really doesn't say why they'd say, "what was that?", he just says that they would. That was possibly the greatest fight in MMA history (imo) and I think even new people would fall in love. It would have been like the second coming of Forrest/Bonnar for them.

[durtyhipy]

That was possibly the most epic war i've ever seen in my several years watching mma. My girlfriend of a few years now, who has never sat thru any fight with me because of what she referred to as "angry humpers" , was amazed by that fight, and now wants to be here every fight. The performance that Hendo/Shogun put on was mesmerizing and would've hooked any first time viewer, and to suggest otherwise is ridiculous. Dana is just trying to cover his own ass after already saying that JDS/Cain was exactly what they hoped for.

[DanC]

I hate to admit it, but I kind of agree with White on this one, but only on his point about them being exhausted, and it non reflecting well on the fighters.

MMA is still working to legitimise itself as a sport that requires great skill, dedication and high levels of fitness, and whilst I would never question the skill or dedication or Hendo or Rua, I would say that whilst I loved every second of this fight, and understand that the workrate these guys were putting in meant that its no surprise that they were exhausted at the end of the fifth, to the casual viewer, they wouldn't have looked like real athletes, and may have looked kind of unfit. Of course, this is not true, and in fact, these guys were fighting at a fast pace, and Hendo would have expended a great deal of energy trying to finish Shogun, and Shogun would have been worn out from the punishment he took early on, and even some of the fittest athletes in the world would have been tired after that, the average fan would not have seen it like that.

To really educate some of the newcomers to this sport, I hope that one of the next fox cards features a fight similar to Edgar/Maynard 3, where there is great drama, a frenetic pace, and incredible displays of endurance. Only after that will the casual fans understand that the more weight the fighter packs, the more their conditioning suffers (of course there are a few exceptions, but for the most part this is the case).

[Lesnar_FTW]

Originally Posted by DanC

I hate to admit it, but I kind of agree with White on this one, but only on his point about them being exhausted, and it non reflecting well on the fighters.

MMA is still working to legitimise itself as a sport that requires great skill, dedication and high levels of fitness, and whilst I would never question the skill or dedication or Hendo or Rua, I would say that whilst I loved every second of this fight, and understand that the workrate these guys were putting in meant that its no surprise that they were exhausted at the end of the fifth, to the casual viewer, they wouldn't have looked like real athletes, and may have looked kind of unfit. Of course, this is not true, and in fact, these guys were fighting at a fast pace, and Hendo would have expended a great deal of energy trying to finish Shogun, and Shogun would have been worn out from the punishment he took early on, and even some of the fittest athletes in the world would have been tired after that, the average fan would not have seen it like that.

To really educate some of the newcomers to this sport, I hope that one of the next fox cards features a fight similar to Edgar/Maynard 3, where there is great drama, a frenetic pace, and incredible displays of endurance. Only after that will the casual fans understand that the more weight the fighter packs, the more their conditioning suffers (of course there are a few exceptions, but for the most part this is the case).

I hear what you're saying about cardio but to be honest no fight will ever be truly 100% perfect in a sense. If a person were to watch this fight and nitpick and say the fight wasn't good or it isn't a real sport by the fifth round because they went head on for 20 minutes at that point and smashing each others' heads in then they will never like the sport anyway and will always find some reason to trash it.

[Punk Ass]

When a business owner can say this and get away with it:

People are like, 'Oh, you don't care what your fans think?' No, I do not care what you think.

you know he's at the top of the food chain. Reminds me and Howard Stern calling his audience a bunch of douche bags.

[DanC]

Originally Posted by Lesnar_FTW

I hear what you're saying about cardio but to be honest no fight will ever be truly 100% perfect in a sense. If a person were to watch this fight and nitpick and say the fight wasn't good or it isn't a real sport by the fifth round because they went head on for 20 minutes at that point and smashing each others' heads in then they will never like the sport anyway and will always find some reason to trash it.

Good response man, I see your point. I just think at this moment in time, the extent to which MMA blows up is contingent upon the fights that the marginal fans are exposed to, and I see White's point that as one of the first fights that marginal fans see, it maybe wasn't the best. It was in my view (and in yours judging by what you said in another thread) one of the greatest fights I've ever seen, and I'd like to think that it captured a few fans skirting around the edges of the sport, but a slightly more technical back-and-forth war, maybe with some incredible ground work, would have surely interested more fans.

[Happypants]

Dana is just making shit up to try and turn the perception that they got exactly what they wanted. Dana is just to proud to admit that if they did it over things would have been changed and if this fight would have been on fox it would have been fucking amazing.

He can say the fox numbers were awesome and broke records but in all honesty they were a bit of a disappointment. If this fight was on fox I have no doubt the numbers would have been waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better.

[Spyke]

A bloody (and even) brawl with that ended with two exhausted guys is what took UFC to the mainstream in the first place with Bonnar vs Griffin 1.

True, pictures of Dan Henderson and Shogun Rua after that awesome fight would surely be thrown around by anyone trying to harm the sport, but those assholes can just as easily use anything else because they never show martial arts in proper context anyway.