UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez will make the first defence of his new title against Junior “Cigano” dos Santos live on FOX television. UFC President Dana White announced the five-round fight earlier today. The bout takes place on November 12th at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

Velasquez and dos Santos were originally believed to be facing off a week later at UFC 139 in San Jose, but the fight was never officially announced for that date. Instead, it will now serve as the first UFC fight to air on FOX as part of the new seven-year agreement between the network and the UFC.

Velasquez (9-0-0) captured the title last October with a first-round dismantling of Brock Lesnar, but has been sidelined since then due to a torn rotator cuff. Now healthy and ready to return, the powerhouse wrestler will face a formidable test in dos Santos (13-1-0), who has heavy hands and a solid ground game. Velasquez has knocked out eight of his nine opponents to date, while 11 of dos Santos’s wins have come by stoppage. Dos Santos most recently defeated Shane Carwin in June.

According to White, the newly-rescheduled championship bout will be vital to establishing the UFC brand on FOX, and he stated that he was “betting everything that [it] won’t be a boring fight.” The UFC On FOX 1 special will be one hour long and the bout between Velasquez and dos Santos is the only fight that is guaranteed to air. Undercard fights may be slotted into the broadcast if time permits.

The deal between the UFC and FOX, which was announced last month, includes four events on the FOX network next year. Early reports suggested that the FOX cards could be filled with some of the bigger names from the UFC and today’s announcement that the UFC Heavyweight Championship will be defended on free television may set a precedent for more big fights on the network in 2012.

UFC On FOX 1 takes place on November 12th at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)