"We blew it tonight. It should have been a five-round fight," Dana White told MMAJunkie following his promotion's first main event on Fuel TV.
As the final seconds ticked away in an exciting bout
between welterweight contenders Jake Ellenberger and Diego Sanchez, fans were
left wondering why they wouldn't get to see the pair of fighters go at for
another two rounds, as five-round, main-event fights have become the standard
on the UFC's pay-per-view and FOX events.
After announcing in mid-2011 that all future main events
would be five-round affairs, the UFC narrowed that statement to exclusively
include the featured fights on its biggest shows.
However, the outstanding performance displayed by
Ellenberger and Sanchez on Wednesday night led the UFC brass to recognize their
mistake. As such, the UFC is now serious when they say that all of their main
events will be scheduled for 25 minutes inside the Octagon.
"Already thought and done," White said of future Fuel TV
and FX main events being five-round fights.
Not only will this change bring more entertainment for
fans who had hoped to see 10 more minutes of Ellenberger and Sanchez, but it
promotes consistency.
If the organization is going to feature fights with
title-shot implications at their smaller shows, such as UFC on Fuel TV's main
event, it only makes sense to treat those fights the same as they would a main
event between top contenders on a pay-per-view or FOX card.
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