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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Strikeforce's first show of 2011 set a high ratings bar for the organization for the year, as they brought in an average of 561,000 viewers for the Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg event on Showtime, according to a report from MMAJunkie.com.
The card, headlined by the Welterweight Championship between Nick Diaz and Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos, also featured the second fight for former NFL veteran Herschel Walker, as well as a Middleweight Championship fight between Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza and Robbie Lawler.
The card peaked with 853,000 viewers, just shy of Strikeforce's best peak rating on Showtime, which went to the August 2009 event headlined by Gina Carano vs. Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos.
The event was the second highest rated Strikeforce card on Showtime behind that Carano vs. Cyborg event. It also marked a massive upswing from December's event, headlined by Dan Henderson vs. Renato "Babalu" Sobral. In fact, this card brought 220,000 more viewers on average than the December 4 card.
Penick's Analysis: Well, Herschel Walker's second fight had more average viewers for the event than his first, so it's a positive sign that there was still interest generated with his involvement. Diaz has also been heavily featured throughout his run with the organization, so the familiarity for Strikeforce fans was a factor as well. Whatever the reasons, these were great numbers for Strikeforce for what was a highly entertaining event, and hopefully they can build upon that moving forward with their upcoming events.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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