When the Ultimate Fighting Championship signed its historic broadcast deal with Fox in 2011, it was viewed as a seminal moment in mixed martial arts. Much has changed in the six-plus years since. The thrill associated with knockouts and submissions has not.
The UFC has staged 24 shows on the network television powerhouse, which has provided exposure for many of the organization’s top talents, from Junior dos Santos, Robbie Lawler and Demetrious Johnson to Valentina Shevchenko, Nate Diaz and T.J. Dillashaw. Former middleweight champion Chris Weidman takes his turn in the free-TV spotlight and aims to snap a three-fight losing streak when he faces Kelvin Gastelum in the UFC on Fox 25 headliner this Saturday at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.