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The Canadian Press - ONLINE EDITION

UFC cleans cage so debut Fox telecast doesn't start with bloody mat

By: The Canadian Press

Posted: 11/18/2011 8:42 AM | Comments: 0

TORONTO - The UFC cleaned blood off the cage mat before going on air last week for its debut broadcast on Fox.

UFC president Dana White said it was done because Fox was only showing the main event of the Anaheim mixed martial arts card and wanted the canvas to look pristine.

White denied it was because the network was concerned about blood.

"If Fox was afraid of the blood, we wouldn't be in a seven-year deal with them," White told mma.fighting.com.

"What these guys do is they're perfectionist about putting on live sporting events. And when we go in with just one fight and the mat looks like we used it in three different events, they wanted a clean presentation."

White said the next Fox telecast was slated for Jan. 28 in Chicago and would show four fights rather than one.

The Fox debut drew 5.7 million viewers in the U.S. for the heavyweight title fight between champion Cain Velasquez and Brazilian Junior Dos Santos, who won in 64 seconds.

The international broadcast of the show showed three fights.

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