UFC on Fox: Why Saturday 12th November 2011 might just be one of the most important nights in all of sports

At 9 pm Eastern Time Zone in the U.S. (about 2 am in the U.K.), Cain Velasquez (9-0), the UFC's Heavyweight Champion will defend his title against Number 1 Contender Junior Dos Santos (13-1). It will be Velasquez's first title defence since winning the title almost 12 months ago from Brock Lesnar (a major shoulder injury has forced him on the side lines for the past year) and Dos Santos's first title opportunity, with an impressive seven straight wins since joining the UFC.

Velasquez v Dos Santos

More than just another fantastic match up from the UFC, that never fails to deliver, it marks a true landmark moment for the sport of Mixed Martial Arts as the title fight will be free on U.S. television on Fox (the equivalent of the BBC in the States) and it marks a true coming out party for the UFC. The UFC recently signed a landmark 7 year deal with Fox which reaches pretty much everyone in the U.S. with the intention of it helping the UFC with their PPV sales which are already fantastic. Fox truly is the home of sports in the U.S. with it having the SuperBowl and World Series, both of which are 1 and 1A as the biggest sporting events in the U.S. It speaks volumes for the potential that Fox believes the UFC has that it staved off competitors to ensure that it acquired the rights to the fight company.

55,000+ at the Rogers Centre

The deal really is huge for the UFC and should put all other sports, I'm looking your way in particular boxing on notice that the UFC is here and ready to take on all comers. The UFC started in 1993 some almost two decades ago in Denver but it was not until Zuffa took over in 2001 that things started to get moving. Since then the sports which was once frowned upon and took place in some of the U.S.'s backwater areas, Dothan, Alabama anyone! in front of some 3,500 is now in regulated in every U.S. State (but New York and that is a matter of time) in front of crowds of tens of thousands UFC 129 in Toronto, Canada sold out the Rogers Centre with 55,000. And there not just stuck in the U.S. either as well as Canada, the company has had sold out shows in the U.K., Abu Dhabi, Australia and Brazil among others and it heading back to Brazil for a 100,000 seater Samba stadium.

In its primitive form, the sport was very much seen as a circus of freaks up against one another. There were no weight classes or rounds or any rules; anything with the exception of the ridiculous, obviously could not grab your opponents balls, was permitted. It was such a freak show, that in UFC1, one competitor turned up with a single boxing glove on; quite what he thought he was gonna do with Im not sure but over time, the sport truly has developed into an all conquering one. Now you have to be an athlete with skills in all departments from boxing to wrestling to muay thai to jiu-jitsu just to be competitive let alone successful. Sportsmen are deciding that the UFC is a viable option rather than playing American Football or Soccer; something that would never have been even considered years ago.

The UFC is all about PPV numbers and they are on the rise. In the past 2 years, the company has had 6 PPVs selling in excess of a million buys in comparison with 5 from boxing. Just as important however is that the UFC what boxing appears to be failing to do; creating new stars. Boxing has failed to create new stars with the likes of Bernard Hopkins still being one of the biggest draws around at his age but the UFC is constantly creating new and fresh stars; even with the likes of Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture retiring, nothing has been lost as Jon Jones and Cain Velasquez have stepped forward.

What the UFC and its President Dana White have been able to achieve given their limited in exposure on SpikeTV in comparison to Fox about half, has been nothing short of phenomenal but on Saturday 12th November 2011 the UFC 's two premier heavyweights are going to step into the Octagon to find out who the badest man on the planet truly is. But the significance of the fight beyond just these two men truly cannot be overstated.

A sport that has developed from humble mocked roots, is on the verge of exploding before out very eyes and is putting the others on notice. Millions across the World will be able to see the stars of the UFC for what they really are real athletes as good as any other in other field. All other sports should be put on notice, the UFC is coming for you.