Note: A collaborative piece between Stephen Rivers http://whatculture.com/author/stephen-rivers and Chris OConnor Stephen: In what will hopefully become the first of many upcoming UFC breakdowns, Im joined by fellow WhatCulture writer and full on MMA junkie Chris OConnor as we take a look at UFC on FX 5. Almost ten months have passed since the UFCs seven-year deal with Fox officially kicked off. Melvin Guillard and Jim Miller main evented the first official show in the broadcast agreement back on the 20th January earlier this year. This Friday the next offering is once again airing on FX with the Heavyweights taking centre stage, Travis Browne and Antonio Bigfoot Silva. Before we get into breaking down the fights, what are your thoughts on the Fox deal, what it has meant to the UFCs product in 2012, and how positive you think it has been up to this point?
Chris: Thanks Stephen, I think there are two ways of looking at the Fox Deal. In one sense it has been brilliant for the casual fan in that they have been able to watch some great cards for free, yet I feel at the same time it has highlighted how weak some of the PPV cards have been. I think the UFC has a long term plan with the FOX/FX events to use them as a platform to build up prospects and showcase some lesser known fighters. Initially, however, it appears that the UFC has stacked some of the free cards with the more well-known fighters in order to attract some new fans. Either way free fight cards cant be a bad thing and lets hope the quality doesnt dip once it becomes a more established product. Stephen: I think youve hit the nail on the head in terms of what the company SHOULD be using their TV shows for, to build new stars and give exposure to some of the less popular divisions. The problem is that doesnt really match with what Fox will want from the deal as they push for ratings. There is no question that the quality of the Pay Per View shows has gone down since the deal started and unless the UFC are happy to reduce the number of PPVs which seems unlikely at this point then we just have to slowly get used to these sort of cards. There are just as many, if not more, good fights out there. Theyre just spread out over a far greater number of shows.