(Behold: The logo that will soon be haunting your dreams. Image via NYPost/AP)

FOX Sports Media Group released more information earlier today about the initial programming schedule of Fox Sports 1, and while we already knew about the debut UFC card in Boston on August 17th (aka UFC on FOX Sports 1 1, God help us), there will also be three more live UFC fight broadcasts airing on FOX Sports 1 during an eight day stretch in late-August/early-September — one prelims specials, and two of those brand-new FOX UFC Wednesday cards. I know, I know…

While details are scarce in terms of matchups and venues, here’s the current schedule of FOX Sports 1′s newly-announced UFC broadcasts (via MMAMania):

Saturday, August 17th*
3:30 p.m. ET: UFC “Ultimate Insider”
4 p.m. ET: UFC “Unleashed”
5 p.m. ET: UFC “Tonight” (live)
6 p.m. ET: UFC on FS1 prelims (live)
8 p.m. ET: UFC on FS1 main card (live)

Wednesday, August 28th
8 p.m. ET: FOX UFC Wednesday (live)

Saturday, August 31st
8 p.m. ET: UFC 164 prelims (live)

Wednesday, September 4th
8 p.m. ET: FOX UFC Wednesday (live)
10 p.m. ET: The Ultimate Fighter: Rousey vs. Zingano season premiere

(Two of the fighters featured on the UFC 151 pay-per-view broadcast. I *dare* you to identify them without using Wikipedia.)

Yeah, yeah, Jon Jones vs. Dan Henderson is one of the greatest UFC main events of the year, and we all came buckets this morning when we watched the promo. These are incontrovertible facts — especially the part about the buckets.

But allow me to be a hater for just a moment, because it’s becoming clear that the UFC has lost an aspect of its promotional DNA that used to set it apart from boxing — namely, its habit of stacking each card with multiple fights and stars that fans were excited about. Here’s what UFC president Dana White told CNBC two years ago:

“If you buy tickets and you fly to Las Vegas, I guarantee you’re going to see the best live sporting event ever. And if you buy it on Pay Per View, I promise you, you’re going to get a night of great fights. And the other thing that we do is, in boxing, they’ll only give you one main event. Nobody even shows up for the early fights. We stack a card with tons of great fights because I can’t, for me to sit here, I’d be a liar if I said, I’m guaranteeing you every fight’s going to be the best fight you’ve ever seen I can’t guarantee you that. But I can guarantee you, there’s going to be two, three or four that are going to blow you out of, you know, you’re going to be blown away. We stack the card big enough so that you’re definitely going to get your money’s worth.”

Since that interview, the UFC has inked a set of new broadcast partners, added three weight classes, and returned to certain international markets (i.e., Brazil, Japan), all of which has led them to increase their card-frequency to the point that some events are now completely non-essential, and others are only compelling for their main events. Those incredible “stacked cards” that we used to enjoy in 2008 and 2009 have officially gone extinct.

Which brings us to UFC 151: Jones vs. Henderson (September 1st, Las Vegas). You probably know where this is going…

(When Zuffa purchased the UFC, Dana White actually had hair. There is no punchline, just a fact worth mentioning.)

By Nathan Smith

I have purchased pay per views from the Ultimate Fighting Championship since 1994, where I was welcomed to the sport with Pat Smith turning the face of Scott Morris into a Manwich at UFC 2: No Way Out. It was like heroin after that – I was addicted. Since then, I estimate that I have shelled out well over $5000 on PPVs alone, much less another sizeable chunk of change on tickets to live events and the obligatory UFC merchandise (who can live without the life-sized GSP cardboard cut-out – NOT ME).

Throughout that time I have been an advocate of MMA to the uninformed masses that I’ve encountered at watering holes across this great land. For every, “That UFC shit is just a legalized bar fight” comment, I would swoop in like Dogwelder to defend the UFC and its competitors. It was almost a grass roots effort by the early UFC supporters to educate the ignorant and let them know that this is a real sport filled with unbelievably talented athletes. The edification continues today as many intelligent fans try to shun the perceived stigma that we are a bunch of tatted-up dudes wearing flat-billed TAPOUT hats and driving small-penis-compensating monster trucks while applying ring worm ointment to our wounds.

Then there was the figure-head, the fearless leader that was taking all the media scrutiny head-on and paving the way while holding up his middle finger to the man. After the ZUFFA purchase, Dana White was a perfect fit during the infancy of the UFC’s push towards legitimacy. Adopting rules and weight classes and marketing the shit out of the product culminated in a 7 year deal with FOX and its affiliates. Now the UFC is on the precipice of its fourth nationally televised FOX card and the ratings have plummeted from 5.7 million during UFC on FOX 1 (Cain Velasquez VS Junior Dos Santos) to 2.4 million during UFC on FOX 3 (Nate Diaz VS Jim Miller).

I don’t think it is a coincidence that viewership and PPV buys are down. I have always been a staunch supporter of the brand and even I, a die hard fan, am starting to see chinks in the UFC armor. The reasons have been dissected on CP with various posts but I believe that this is just the beginning of problems for the UFC unless some changes are made pronto. I am not saying that the UFC is in the toilet but as the organization has grown in stature from eviscerating the competition, a standard evolution needs to happen.

So with that in mind, here are five ways that the UFC can move from their current plateau all the way to the mountain top.

(“…and then, we’ll have events every hour of every day…”)

In a recent interview he did with Sports Illustrated, UFC president Dana White touched on several hot button topics including his organization’s pay-per-view aspirations, the future of the Strikeforce brand, the fact that Paul Daley will still never be invited back to the UFC, Fedor being a sub-top ten heavyweight, his feelings about fighters like Jon Fitch and much, much more.

Check out what The Baldfather had to say after the jump.