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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Dana White was right on with his prediction of the Kimbo Slice-Roy Nelson fight on Wednesday's episode of the Ultimate Fighter, as a record setting 6.1 million viewers tuned in for the fight.
The full hour drew an average of 5.3 million viewers, with viewership peaking in the final 15 minutes. The 3.7 household rating the show garnered was the highest for any MMA show ever, though this was just a one hour broadcast.
It is officially the most viewed MMA fight on Spike, surpassing the 5.9 million that tuned in to see Quinton "Rampage" Jackson square off against Dan Henderson on the UFC 75 event. The show drew a massive 6.81 rating in the M18-34 demo, with a 5.4 in M18-49. It was the most watched episode of an original series in Spike's six year history.
Penick's Analysis: That's a massive amount of viewers for the show, and gives Kimbo three of the top four viewed MMA fights in the sport's history. It was expected to be the most viewed episode in the show's history, and it was, and because of that Dana White and the UFC will do exactly what others have done with Kimbo, and that's put him in a spot to make them money. As long as he's not showcased as anything but what he is, and that's an interesting character with a menacing look that people want to see fight, and not an elite fighter, then they won't completely be hypocrites. Kimbo=ratings, and that's absolutely solidified with this. 6.1 million is now the benchmark for Strikeforce, if they want to be a success on November 7th they need to be aiming that high with their marketing for Fedor, and they need to start soon.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
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