...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The UFC officially has the most-watched fight in MMA history, as MMAJunkie.com reports that the ratings for Saturday's UFC on Fox event peaked with 8.8 million viewers during the Heavyweight Championship fight between Junior dos Santos and Cain Velasquez.
Dos Santos knocked Velasquez out in just 64 seconds, and just three minutes after the bout's conclusion the numbers dropped down to 5.9 million viewers with many changing the channel. The overall average was 5.7 million viewers, making this far and away the most watched MMA event on television in the U.S. in the sport's history; and this 8.8 million number makes it the most watched fight in MMA history, with over two million more viewers tuned in than the fight in second place.
The previous best for a UFC fight was 6.1 million viewers at peak for the Kimbo Slice-Roy Nelson bout on The Ultimate Fighter, with Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs. Dan Henderson from UFC 75 coming in behind that. These numbers break all records set by EliteXC on CBS with two fights featuring Slice.
Penick's Analysis: This is tremendous news, and even higher than I predicted from the average numbers this weekend. Had the fight gone longer it's very possible even more could have tuned in, but considering it lasted just 64 seconds this is a fantastic number of viewers for the organization and a great starting point. With a tweaked format and more fights on the Fox broadcasts next year, this is the type of thing they can build upon, and it sets a new bar with the organization.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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