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Jun 23, 2009 - 1:16:01 PM By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief The Ultimate Fighter season nine finale was yet another smash ratings success for the UFC and Spike. The highest rated finale since season six, the event drew an overall 1.5 household rating.
The main event between Diego Sanchez and Clay Guida topped viewership for the night, garnering a 3.1 rating in the M18-34 demographic as well as a 3.3 with men 25-34. It peaked at 2.8 million viewers for that fight.
The three hour event drew more viewers in the UFC's key M18-34 and M18-49 demographics than any other program on television that day, beating out both Fox's Major League Baseball coverage and the U.S. Open on NBC.
Penick's Analysis: It's a continuing good sign with these free events for the UFC to get these kind of numbers, especially when they get a fight like Sanchez-Guida to close it out. The free live events can drive people to purchase the major pay-per-view events and considering what they've got on tap in the next two months I'd expect monster numbers all around.
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