The UFC’s first show of 2013 will be held in Sao Paulo, Brazil at the Iberapuera Arena. It’s a freebie on FX as the UFC has decided to hold off on a January PPV and wait until Super Bowl weekend. The main event for this card definitely could be a co-main of a PPV, as Vitor Belfort fights Michael Bisping in a five-round middleweight clash. This is realistically the closest Michael Bisping has been to a title shot, and this is his chance to notch consecutive wins over top 10 caliber opponents. Belfort is coming off a spirited LHW title fight against Jon Jones, which nearly saw him pull off a 1st round submission.
MMA legend C.B. Dollaway is in the co-main event against Daniel Sarafian, while Gabriel Gonzaga faces Ben Rothwell in one of the other feature bouts.
The preliminary card is good, but I would by lying if I told you that fights like Justin Salas/Edson Barboza, Wagner Prado/Roger Hollett, and Francisco Trinaldo/C.J. Keith weren’t obvious mismatches to send the expected losers out of the UFC.
UFC on FX 7 airs live on … well … FX, at 9 PM ET/6 PM PT on January 19th, 2013 and here’s how the card currently looks:
Main Card
Vitor Belfort vs. Michael Bisping
Daniel Sarafian vs. C.B. Dollaway
Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Ben Rothwell
Thiago Tavares vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov
Preliminary Card
Godofredo Pepey vs. Milton Vieira
Diego Nunes vs. Nik Lentz
Ronny Markes vs. Andrew Craig
Edson Barboza vs. Justin Salas
Yuri Alcantara vs. George Roop
Thiago Perpetuo vs. Michael Kuiper
Wagner Prado vs. Roger Hollett
Francisco Trinaldo vs. C.J. Keith