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The UFC previously announced Fabricio Werdum and Travis Browne for their first trip to Disneyland Orlando, Florida this April, but never said it was the main event. In today's UFC 169 media day, Dana White announced that Werdum/Browne will be headlining UFC on Fox 11 in a five-round fight.
Dana White: Werdum-Browne is the main event of FOX card in Orlando.
— Marc Raimondi (@marc_raimondi) January 30, 2014
Werdum (17-5-1) opted to take another fight instead of wait for champion Cain Velasquez to recover from shoulder surgery. He's won his last 3 fights, including a submission win over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in Fortaleza, Brazil last June.
Browne (16-1-1) had a terrific 2013, knocking out Gabriel Gonzaga, Alistair Overeem, and Josh Barnett -- picking up KOTN bonuses in each of them -- to vault him straight into title contention. The Hawaiian native is ranked 3rd in the UFC's official rankings, one spot below Werdum.
Miesha Tate and Liz Carmouche is the only other fight confirmed for this event, no word on whether that will be the co-main event.
Frankly speaking, this is a hugely important matchup, the winner is certain to get a title shot, but I doubt this pulls in great ratings on Fox unless there is a decent marquee name in the co-main. Like Ben Henderson vs. Josh Thomson, this is a great Fox Sports 1 caliber main event but not a strong Fox headliner. They're running more events than ever before and are shorthanded two champions (Pettis, Velasquez), while the remaining champs bolster their PPVs. With the well running dry on the flow of lightweight and flyweight title fights available to headline Fox cards, you have to wonder what the UFC's plans are for future Fox shows as they expand the number of shows they hold per year.
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