DW: Just because you read on MMA.tv …
“CBS made its biggest mistake partnering with a tiny, small show with a roster no one cares about,” said Dana…
“CBS made its biggest mistake partnering with a tiny, small show with a roster no one cares about,” said Dana White. “Just because you read on MMA.TV that someone is a superstar doesn’t make it true. This should prove that no one out there gives a [expletive] about Fedor.”
“We’re pulling those numbers on Spike,” White said. “I mean, how the [expletive] is what they did considered any good in any way, shape or form? What kind of numbers do you think we would pull with a live show on CBS? I’ll tell you. Huge. It would be significantly, significantly more than what they got with these idiots from Showtime.”
“You’d think everyone [in the industry] would be happy because it’s great for the industry for everyone to be doing well,” responded Coker.
Of the eight episodes of the current season of the UFC’s “Ultimate Fighter” reality show on Spike, two had higher ratings than this show. Aside from that, UFC has topped a 2.5 rating for a live event twice, for a 2006 Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock fight and a 2007 Quinton Jackson vs. Dan Henderson fight. UFC 105, which airs this coming Saturday night, headlined by Randy Couture vs. Brandon Vera, the first time Couture will have ever fought live on Spike TV, could do a rating in the same range as Strikeforce show.
UFC’s attempt at counterprogramming the opposition didn’t prove as successful as in the past. UFC has always put on replays of past major pay-per-view events against the prior CBS shows, usually doing a 1.2 rating, considered very strong for Spike TV for using old footage. But they were down 25 percent from usual, doing a 0.9 rating and 1.2 million viewers with a custom-made show featuring the television debuts of four recent never-before-seen pay-per-view main event matches.