Previously, UFC on Fox was also used as a blanket title for UFC events aired on the Fox network, although since the concurrent launch of Fox Sports 1 and rebranding of Fuel TV as Fox Sports 2 in August 2013, all live UFC broadcasts on Fox-owned networks (including preliminaries, UFC Fight Night and The Ultimate Fighter Finale) have since used the name.

On August 18, 2011, the Ultimate Fighting Championship reached a seven-year broadcast agreement with Fox Sports, giving it the rights to televise matches sanctioned by the promotion through 2018, ending the UFC's relationship with cable channel Spike.

Through the agreement, Fox Sports will air four live events per year in either prime time or late night, as well as other UFC programming (including UFC Fight Night, Road to the Octagon and The Ultimate Fighter) on its various broadcast and cable properties, including on Fox, FX and Fuel TV.

Incidentally, MyNetworkTV (a sister network-turned-programming service of the Fox broadcast network) previously carried events from the International Fight League, then a competitor to the UFC, from September to November 2007 under a time-buy arrangement[citation needed] until the UFC purchased that promotion (MyNetworkTV is not included in Fox Sports' UFC agreement).

The first UFC event to air as part of the agreement was a title card between Junior dos Santos and Cain Velasquez, which aired on Fox on November 12, 2011.