MMA Junkie reports that Saturday night’s Strikeforce event on Showtime garnered an average of 571,000 viewers with a peak of 778,000. It was the fourth highest rated Strikeforce-Showtime show ever.
The list of the top five Strikeforce-Showtime shows as compiled by MMA Junkie:
- “Strikeforce: Silva vs. Fedor” (February 2011): 741,000 viewers
- “Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum” (June 2011): 624,000
- “Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg” (August 2009): 576,000
- “Strikeforce and M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Henderson” (July 2011): 571,000
- “Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg” (January 2011): 561,000
Payout Perspective:
Its interesting that four of the five highest rated shows occurred in 2011 and the fifth being the hyped Carano vs. Cyborg fight. Saturday night’s fight was probably one of the best, if not the best card Strikeforce has put on. Unfortunately, both main event participants are likely gone from the company. In addition, news came out today that the former champion Marloes Coenen has been cut by Zuffa. Interesting that Coenen doesn’t even get to stay to get a rematch.
It’s just not worth a sub-$3 million dollar payroll to net 571,000 viewers. Sure Henderson, Fedor and Overeem were stars, but Zuffa is doing the right thing in trimming the fat so Strikeforce doesn’t bleed money for the remaining events. Some of these contracts undoubtedly seem ridiculous from Zuffa’s perspective, so they are getting rid of as many of them as they can, as quickly as they can. Negotiations should be interesting; Henderson can’t possibly expect the same amount of money from Zuffa as he got from Coker and co. As for Fedor… whether we see him in the UFC depends on if he’s willing to accept what Zuffa offers. Something tells me we’ve seen the last of Fedor in a Zuffa owned promotion, as I doubt M-1 Global will be able to accept the degree to which his value has diminished. I hope that they can work things out with Henderson, and Overeem could be back in the UFC if they can bury the hatchet, and if he is willing to do as he’s told. Should be interesting to see how this all plays out in the next 6 months or so.