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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
During Saturday's UFC on Fox 5 main event between Ben Henderson and Nate Diaz, there were a few odd cutaway moments from the production team, where a still wide angle shot popped in and out. Those shots came because of Diaz, who flipped middle fingers at Henderson during the course of their fight, which made the production team cut away to avoid fines from the FCC.
Fox has now commented on the issue during Saturday night's broadcast, praising the UFC's broadcasting crew for being on top of things live.
"It's not appropriate for air, but the folks in the UFC's production truck were on the ball," said a Fox spokesperson in a comment to MMAFighting.com. They cut away so quickly that it was virtually indiscernible to the naked eye. We regret even a small fraction of a second snuck through."
Penick's Analysis: It's a continuation of the Diaz brothers not being professional in or out of the cage, but the UFC also knew what they were dealing with when they booked him for this fight. They surely talked to him about it beforehand, because they were quick to pull the trigger on those wide shots, but it certainly didn't make anyone look good. Diaz looked unprofessional once again, while the broadcast looked like they were having technical issues because they randomly cut away during the main event. Of course, it's silly that a hand gesture is too inappropriate for network TV while full on fighting is fine, but if they knew what the rules were, they should have been followed. It's unfortunate Diaz couldn't keep that in check on network television for one night, but the UFC couldn't have honestly believed he would.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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