UFC_on_FOX_11The UFC on FOX 11 event is set to take place on Saturday, April 19, at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. The event will be headlined by the heavyweight scrap between top 10 fighters Fabricio Werdum and Travis Browne.

The winner will essentially be the next title challenger to UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez later this year or early 2015. The co-main event will feature a women’s bantamweight scrap between two former title challengers in Miesha Tate and Liz Carmouche. Let’s take a look at five huge questions going into the event:

Will the event reach the magical 3 million viewers mark?

I’ve long said that when UFC on FOX event reach three million viewers everybody is happy. They have been able to achieve that rating for the most part of 10 events on FOX. These UFC on FOX in April events are generally tricky to predict in that they lack the benefit of NFL promotional exposure. However, the UFC on FOX 7 event which took place on April 20 last year was able to garner 3.7 million viewers while peaking at 4.7 million in the UFC lightweight title main event between Ben Henderson and Gilbert Melendez. The UFC on FOX 11 event doesn’t feature a title fight, and the two heavyweights in the main event are not proven draws at all. However, Tate and Carmouche have been in the spotlight a bit for the respective fights with UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey. This card also has a lightweight bout featuring Donald Cerrone on the card who has fought on FOX cards quite a few times. I have not noticed a ton of promotional content for this card, so it’ll be interesting to see what the numbers look like. I don’t think it’ll have any significant competition on Saturday night. These ratings become ever so important as the UFC tries to position themselves into leverage position when it comes times to renegotiate a new contract with FOX.

Can Miesha Tate avoid the hat trick third straight loss?

Miesha Tate is a legit fighter, tough as they come, and well simply a beautiful woman. However, all of that will not do her any good unless she can put some W’s in the column. Granted, she has fought incredible competition in his last four fights. She’ll be taking on Liz Carmouche who is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Alexis Davis in her last outing. Tate absolutely needs a win in this fight to get back on track. I don’t think many people realize that she’s winless in the UFC (0-2). The women’s bantamweight division needs her to win as Ronda Rousey essentially has wiped out the division up to this point. Although she has lost to Rousey twice, I think people would be interested in a third fight between the two should Tate put together three straight wins.

Does this winner of Cerrone/Barboza put themselves ‘in the mix’ of the lightweight division?

I know I know. Cerrone just got starched by current champion Anthony Pettis just over a year ago. However, it was a fight that could be labeled as him ‘getting caught’, and he has won three of his last four fights. He has also won “Submission of the Night” and “Knockout of the Night” in his last two fights. Edson Barboza has won three consecutive fights since suffering the lone loss on his record, including a “Fight of the Night” performance in his last bout. A fight between Barboza and Anthony Pettis would be a sight to see as both have incredible striking skills. Barboza has more at stake in this fight, and if he can win impressively against the “Cowboy” look for the UFC to fast track him to the winner of the next fight we’re going to talk about with a lack of legit lightweight challengers at the moment.

Could Rafael dos Anjos and Khabib Nurmagomedov be in line for a title shot with a win?

Dos Anjos has won five consecutive fights as has Nurmagomedov. This will be an interesting matchup with dos Anjos being a threat on the feet and on the ground, and Nurmagomedov being more of a brawler with very good takedowns. I doubt the UFC would put the winner of this fight in a title fight next, BUT six consecutive wins is NOTHING to sneeze at for sure. I think more than likely the winner of this bout could take on the winner of the Cerrone/Barboza bout up above. I should mention that dos Anjos has already beaten Cerrone recently, so should the two win they more than likely wouldn’t rematch so quickly. This is a big fight in the lightweight division.

Can Thiago Alves return after a two year absence and look like the same old “Pitbull”?

Thiago Alves will be taking on Seth Baczynski on Saturday night and it’ll be the first time Alves has fought in over two years. The former title challenger has suffered several injuries over the last couple of years and looks to get back on track Saturday night. It’s certainly a winnable fight for Alves, but a two year absence is huge, and who knows how he’ll perform after all of the injuries and time off. The welterweight division has certainly changed since he was last active. However, Alves is still only 30 year old so it’ll be interesting to see if he has one more title run left in him.

It should be a great night of fights. Be sure to make ProMMAnow.com your home for UFC on FOX 11 coverage. The preliminary fights will begin the UFC Fight Pass subscription service at 3:30 p.m. ET. They will transition over to FOX Sports 1 at 5 p.m. ET, and the main card will begin airing on FOX at 8 p.m. ET.

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