5 best UFC shows on Fox

#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

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.