Without further ado, here are all the details for UFC on FOX 10, which takes place later tonight (Sat., Jan. 25, 2014) from United Center in Chicago, Illinois:
Who: Ben Henderson vs. Josh Thomson
What: UFC on FOX 10: "Henderson vs. Thomson"
When: Jan. 25, 2014
Where: United Center in Chicago, Illinois,
Why It Matters: The main event gives us a little more clarity as what the future holds for the Lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, who is recovering from another injury.
That is the sole reason we have this main event.
Pettis' last foe, Henderson, lost the coveted 155-pound strap to "Showtime" at UFC 164. He will now look to re-establish himself as one of the best fighters on the planet, one eager to who could eventually earn himself a third meeting with a rival, Pettis, to whom he has already lost to twice.
On the flip side, Thomson was all set to challenge Pettis for the world title, and while the champ sits on the sidelines, it is mandatory that "The Punk" knocks off "Smooth" to preserve his championship opportunity. If not, he can kiss it goodbye ... perhaps indefinitely.
What's Hot: It's the first FOX event of 2014, and if you are a fan of lighter weight classes, rejoice. Out of 11 contests, eight of them take place at either Lightweight or lower, including four Bantamweight scraps on the "Prelims."
The main event is pretty rad, too.
Also, every fight on the main card has the ability to be stopped quickly -- there is at least one explosive stand up fighter in every duel -- especially in the Heavyweight department.
Donald Cerrone will look to bounce back into title contention with a win over Adriano Martins, who could rise up to the big leagues with a win over "Cowboy."
Meanwhile, the first fight on the FOX broadcast will also showcase rising lightweights Jeremy Stephens and Darren Elkins.
What's Not: Us in "MMA media" refer to complaining all too much in this closed-off sporting hemisphere we live in, so let us to refer to the installments of the FOX-card series we have witnessed so far.
Demetrious Johnson and Henderson have become the go-to guys for these cards and are beginning to attract other viewers than those who are familiar with the sport.
Improving the line up and keeping viewer relevancy to see these FOX cards needs to feature more diversity for it to have a real impact and help with this global (expletive) domination thing. Not to degrade this current event's crop; however, this deal was touted as one that was supposed to change the sport, right?
Not long ago, UFC President Dana White reiterated points in his willingness to bolster pay-per-view (PPV) events because there is "other stuff to do on a Saturday night" (or at least the quote went something like that). We get the whole stacking PPV cards is more essential than loading up free cards, however as of late, we're really paying for being a fighting enthusiast.
Remember that inaugural FOX event, with the first heavyweight clash between Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos? Make more of those -- bigger fights for it to garner mass appeal. Just don't make it a one-fight event ... and less panel segments that lead to avoidable controversy.
New Blood: The only two promotional newcomers on this event are George Sullivan and Mike Rhodes, who ironically, face each other in a Welterweight bout on the "Prelims."
Original Card vs. Actual Card: There were not too many bummers at all for this event.
Apart from the Lightweight division having a few championship fights canceled that led to our current main event, Jared Rosholt was forced off the card after Oleksiy Oliynyk suffered an injury.
Pascal Krauss will not meet Adam Khaliev after all after both combatants were removed because of injuries.
How do the "Prelims" look: Like we mentioned before, the whole fight card is stacked with competition stemming from lighter weight classes, which is where the "Prelims" take shape.
Four Bantamweight bouts headline the under card, with the main event being Alex Caceres against Sergio Pettis. Eddie Wineland looks to bounce back from his UFC 165 Bantamweight title loss against Yves Jabouin. Also in the 135-pound division, Chico Camus battles Yaotzin Meza, and Junior Hernandez squares off against Hugo Viana.
Lightweight Daron Cruickshank tries to shake off a loss against Mike Rio, and commencing the festivities on FOX Sports 1 will be aforementioned newcomers Sullivan and Rhodes engaging in a 170-pound showdown.
The lone UFC Fight Pass "Prelims" fight sees Walt Harris and Nikita Krylov duke it out in a Heavyweight affair.
Who Needs A Win Badly: Gosh, all fingers point to Krylov.
After his absolute stinker and a half with Soa Palelei at UFC 164 last summer, if he cannot get the job done against Harris, "Al Capone" is history.
Rio will also look to avoid losing a third straight fight, desperately needing a win against Cruickshank.
Apart from that, nobody else is in real serious danger of facing grave consequences.
Interest Level: 7.5/10
Despite the inability to give fair promotion to every card nowadays in the land known as UFC, the main event alone is worth staying home and watching. The co-main event is destined to be stopped before the 15 minutes are up, and rounding out the main card are two classic striker versus grappler match ups.
All of those fights are more or less the reason for excitement in terms of combat sports this weekend.
Full Card: Here is the full "UFC on FOX 10: Henderson vs. Thomson" fight card:
FOX Main Card (8 p.m. ET):
Main Event: 155 lbs.: Ben Henderson vs. Josh Thomson265 lbs.: Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Stipe Miocic
155 lbs.: Donald Cerrone vs. Adriano Martins
145 lbs.: Darren Elkins vs. Jeremy StephensFOX Sports 1 Prelims (5 p.m. ET):
135 lbs.: Alex Caceres vs. Sergio Pettis
135 lbs.: Yves Jabouin vs. Eddie Wineland
135 lbs.: Chico Camus vs. Yaotzin Meza
135 lbs.: Junior Hernandez vs. Hugo Viana
155 lbs.: Daron Cruickshank vs. Mike Rio
185 lbs.: Mike Rhodes vs. George SullivanFight Pass Prelims (4:30 p.m. ET):
265 lbs.: Walter Harris vs. Nikita Krylov