The Doggy Bag: Brock Solid

Any insight in regards to how the UFC determines which fights will be on their undercard? Sometimes their choices seem counterintuitive, e.g. the Jon Fitch-Akihiro Gono fight at UFC 94. Fitch just lost to Georges St. Pierre, which makes the fight relevant to the main event (never mind that he's still the second or third best WW), and Gono is one of Japan's bigger stars.

Why is this fight taking a back seat to the Karo Parisyan fight? I can understand the others, as they feature Ultimate Fighter cast, but come on ... the only logical explanation I can think of is that the UFC wants to cash in double on the Fitch-Gono fight via their website. Any thoughts?
-- Adam

Jordan Breen, columnist and radio host: While it's never an exact science, there are several guiding principles to how Zuffa structure their live main cards. First of all, for a pay-per-view, there will always be four bouts plus a swing bout. This format was put in place several years ago to safe guard against a disaster like UFC 33, a telecast which ended in the middle of the Tito Ortiz-Vladimir Matyushenko bout, from ever happening again. For this card, St. Pierre-Penn is your main event, and Thiago Silva-Lyoto Machida is a no-brainer type fight to have on the main card. That leaves three other spots on the card.

Nathan Diaz's popularity due to “The Ultimate Fighter,” coupled with Clay Guida's cult following, combined with the fact that the fight has all the makings of a high-octane scrap, also make it a no-brainer for the card. That leaves two spaces on the main card. You draw issue with Parisyan-Kim fight being broadcasted, and while in terms of divisional relevance, it perhaps lags behind Fitch-Gono, there are stylistic considerations.

Zuffa want to put the most exciting fights possible on the main card, as they're what the PPV crowd will see, if nothing else. Then, they can appropriate the most entertaining and relevant preliminary bouts to create the best overall product. Because of Fitch's emergent-but-not-exceptional striking, and the fact he's likely to attempt to take down the very conservative, counter-minded Gono, their fight may be competitive and technically interesting, but it's hardly going to offer the kind of action Parisyan-Kim will. Even if Parisyan and Kim gas out, their willingness to throw caution to the wind is still likely to make for a engaging experience for the layfan.

That leaves just the Stephan Bonnar-Jon Jones bout. Obviously, it's being televised due to Bonnar's relative popularity, and a clash of aggressive striking styles. While Bonnar is a solid fighter, and Jones is an extremely gifted young prospect, this is perhaps the most objectionable of the main card fights to promote over Gono-Fitch, but even then, the potential of reintroducing Bonnar into the mix or the emergence of another young, talented light heavyweight in an enthusiastic scrap still has its merits.

On top of all that, consider the fact that Gono-Fitch was supposed to happen on the main card at UFC 82 when they were originally slated to fight last March before Gono broke his hand. Much of its relegation to the preliminaries has to do with the fact it's on an extremely deep card filled with major fights, potentially explosive and volatile match-ups and intriguing young prospects. If Gono-Fitch turns out to be an entertaining affair, time permitting, you'll see it on the telecast (or UFC.com for free), but there is a method to the seeming madness, and it doesn't have to do with cashing in on UFC OnDemand (or video game deals, for that matter).