5 best UFC shows on Fox

Fox has seen some great UFC fights - including Alistair Overeem vs. Junior Dos Santos
Fox has seen some great UFC fights - including Alistair Overeem vs. Junior Dos Santos

This Saturday marks the end of the UFC’s 7-year relationship with the Fox network, as their 31st show on the television channel will also be their last one before the promotion makes the move onto ESPN at the beginning of 2019.

Since the Fox deal began in 2011, we’ve seen numerous title fights – including a Heavyweight title change on the inaugural show – some classic bouts, insane finishes and both good and bad shows overall. The quality of the cards has ebbed and flowed over the years too, as have the ratings.

Here’s hoping that UFC on Fox 31 proves to be a classic show – but it’ll have to be good to match the following cards. Here are the 5 best ‘UFC on Fox’ shows since the first broadcast in 2011.

#5 UFC on Fox 23: Shevchenko vs. Pena – 01/28/2017

Francis Ngannou took out Andrei Arlovski in a star-making performance
Francis Ngannou took out Andrei Arlovski in a star-making performance

The first UFC show on Fox in 2017 wasn’t the strongest card on paper, as it lacked a title fight and its main event was a title eliminator in the post-Ronda Rousey Women’s Bantamweight division. But what it lacked in big names, it made up for in action. The four fights televised on the Fox main card saw some violent finishes, and none reached the final buzzer.

The night started off with an eye-opening performance from Featherweight prospect Jason Knight, who shellacked the veteran Alex Caceres and finished him with a second-round rear naked choke. Next came the first big challenge for future Heavyweight title challenger Francis Ngannou, not that he made the fight seem challenging – he viciously knocked out former champion Andrei Arlovski in less than two minutes.

The co-main event saw a surprising result, as Donald Cerrone – on a four-fight win streak at 170lbs – was stunningly knocked out by Jorge Masvidal early in the second round, and then the main event was equally surprising. Valentina Shevchenko vs. Julianna Pena was supposed to be a classic striker vs. grappler match, with Shevchenko preferring the action on the feet. But instead, she caught Pena with an armbar in the second round from the bottom, and handed ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ her first loss in the UFC.

With 4 fights, 4 finishes and 4 star-making performances, this was definitely one of the UFC’s best efforts on Fox.

#4 UFC on Fox 13: Dos Santos vs. Miocic – 12/13/2014

The first fight between Stipe Miocic and Junior Dos Santos was a stone-cold classic
The first fight between Stipe Miocic and Junior Dos Santos was a stone-cold classic

The number 13 is supposed to be unlucky, but it certainly wasn’t for the UFC’s series of shows on Fox, as this effort – the first UFC show to take place in the state of Arizona – turned out to be a phenomenal one. The show centred around the Heavyweight division, with 3 of the 4 main card fights taking place there, and naturally, a lot of entertaining violence ensued.

We began with Matt Mitrione violently knocking out former title challenger Gabriel Gonzaga – picking up arguably his most impressive UFC win in the process – in a fight that went just under two minutes. Alistair Overeem then made almost as quick work of his countryman Stefan Struve, surprising everyone by utilising his ground game to knock ‘Skyscraper’ out from the guard.

The top two fights were where the best bits of the card took place, though; firstly Nate Diaz made his long-awaited return to action, but it didn’t go too well for him – he was beaten by the leg kicks and wrestling of Rafael Dos Anjos in a one-sided fight that earned ‘RDA’ a Lightweight title shot in early 2015.

And finally, we got a stone-cold classic Heavyweight fight between Stipe Miocic and Junior Dos Santos; one of the best Heavyweight fights in company history, both men took some insane amounts of punishment before ‘Cigano’ saw his hand raised in controversial fashion, given the majority of fans saw the fight for Miocic.

For giving us perhaps the best main event in the history of the UFC’s shows on Fox – as well as an entertaining undercard – this definitely belongs in the top 5.

#3 UFC on Fox 5: Henderson vs. Diaz – 12/08/2012

Benson Henderson's win over Nate Diaz was a masterful performance
Benson Henderson's win over Nate Diaz was a masterful performance

Prior to this show in December 2012, the UFC had come under criticism for not putting enough “big” fights and names on Fox, as the previous three shows had done poorly in television ratings despite having some excellent action. This was evidently the promotion’s answer to those critics, as we were given a stacked card headlined by a major title fight.

The title fight in question? Benson Henderson defended his UFC Lightweight crown against Nate Diaz in a masterful display, as he used his low kicks, wrestling and overall striking to dominate the challenger from buzzer-to-buzzer, even having him on the verge of being finished on a couple of occasions. The fight marked Henderson’s second successful title defense and made him into a bonafide UFC headliner for some time.

The main card also saw a pair of ‘legend vs. prospect’ fights, as Alexander Gustafsson and Rory MacDonald picked up their biggest wins to that point over former champions Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua and BJ Penn respectively. Although both fights went the distance, they were hugely entertaining too – particularly Gustafsson vs. Shogun, a throwback to when 205lbs was the premier division in MMA.

And in the opener, Matt Brown showed flashes of the greatness he’d go onto later down the road by viciously knocking out veteran Mike Swick. It was the 4th in a 7-fight win streak for ‘The Immortal’.

Often stacked cards in MMA don’t always work out – but this one certainly did and Seattle, Washington was given a genuine classic show.

#2 UFC on Fox 4: Shogun vs. Vera – 08/04/2012

Brandon Vera and Shogun Rua went to war in the main event of the 4th UFC show on Fox
Brandon Vera and Shogun Rua went to war in the main event of the 4th UFC show on Fox

Despite featuring 4 truly brilliant fights – including a pair of contenders for Fight of the Year for 2012 – this show, unfortunately, drew low television ratings – a phenomenon that Dana White blamed on the London Olympics taking place at the same time. But in the end, the fans who didn’t tune in simply missed out on a great night of action.

The Light-Heavyweight division was in the spotlight on this Los Angeles show, as Ryan Bader faced Lyoto Machida while Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua fought Brandon Vera, with White promising a title shot to the most impressive fighter. That turned out to be Machida, as he knocked out a wildly charging Bader with a perfectly-placed right hand in the second round.

Machida was never granted his title shot – fate intervened – but despite picking up the most impressive finish, the best fight was definitely between Vera and Shogun. A major underdog, Vera put everything into the fight and despite losing by 4th round TKO, gained many fans in the process after putting on an incredible war with the former UFC and PRIDE champion.

The second great fight on the card came between Lightweights Joe Lauzon and Jamie Varner, as the two men threw down and exchanged submission attempts and strikes until Lauzon finally submitted the former WEC champ with a third round triangle choke. And the opener saw a fun fight too, as Mike Swick returned from 2 years on the shelf to violently knock out Damarques Johnson.

The action in the Olympics that night was tremendous too – but it’d be hard for an MMA fan to argue that it was better than this great UFC show.

#1 UFC on Fox 17: Dos Anjos vs. Cowboy II – 12/19/2015

Rafael Dos Anjos successfully defended his Lightweight crown against Donald Cerrone on the 17th Fox show
Rafael Dos Anjos successfully defended his Lightweight crown against Donald Cerrone on the 17th Fox show

The final UFC show of 2015, this one featured a major title fight on top in the form of Rafael Dos Anjos’s first Lightweight title defense against Donald Cerrone – who was coming in on a wild 8-fight winning streak – and in the co-main event, we got a fight that should’ve taken place in 2012 with the Heavyweight title on the line – Junior Dos Santos vs. Alistair Overeem.

Both fights ended in spectacular fashion; after a slow start, Overeem knocked Dos Santos out with a ridiculous left hook that sent the Brazilian crashing to the ground. It was the first time that ‘Cigano’ had been cleanly knocked out in his UFC career, and it was arguably Overeem’s biggest ever victory in the Octagon.

As for Dos Anjos, he finished Cerrone in spectacular fashion, taking him out with a vicious combination just a minute into the fight. Essentially, ‘Cowboy’ wasn’t even given a chance to get out of the gates.

Perhaps the most entertaining fight of the night came prior to those, however, as Nate Diaz returned after another year on the shelf to face the highly-ranked Michael Johnson. Most were favouring ‘The Menace’, but instead, Diaz showed up in his best condition in years and put on a vintage performance, taunting and outstriking Johnson to take a unanimous decision. And his post-fight promo – which saw him call out Conor McGregor – inadvertently set up two of the UFC’s biggest ever shows in 2016.

The show was also opened by a highly entertaining fight – future title challenger Karolina Kowalkiewicz debuted at Strawweight to defeat TUF veteran Randa Markos in a back-and-forth affair.

Essentially, this show was the best UFC effort on Fox as the Overeem, Dos Anjos and Diaz performances remain outstanding and fresh in the mind some 3 years on. Here’s hoping the UFC’s series on ESPN is as successful!

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Edited by Vikshith R