Spike TV has released the ratings numbers for The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale, which aired live last Saturday from Las Vegas, Nevada. The event drew a 2.4 HH rating for an average viewership of 3.7 million. The event scored well in the M18-34 (4.6), and saw over 5 million viewers tune in to watch Kimbo Slice defeat Houston Alexander.
KIMBO SLICE DRAWS 5.2 MILLION VIEWERS FOR HIS FIRST LIVE FIGHT IN THE
UFC ON SPIKE TV
Most Watched “The Ultimate Fighter” Finale In Franchise History And Biggest Audience For A Live UFC Fight In 2009
New York, NY, December 8, 2009 – Spike TV’s telecast of “The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights” live finale on Saturday, December 5 was the most watched final episode in the 10 seasons of the TUF franchise, peaking with 5.2 million viewers and a 5.9 rating with Men 18-34 for the Kimbo Slice-Houston Alexander fight. The over 5 million viewers were the most to watch a live UFC fight in 2009.
Overall, the three-hour fight card drew 3.7 million viewers, a 2.4 household rating, a 4.6 in Men 18-34 and was the most-watched show on cable with Men 18-34 and Men 18-49 for the day.
“The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights” live finale was the third most-watched UFC fight card ever.
Payout Perspective:
The TUF 10 Finale wasn’t exactly the home run that Spike and the UFC were hoping for when they announced that Kimbo would be fighting on the main card of the show, but the result is pretty solid nonetheless (especially for a three hour card to garner a 2.4 average HH rating).
As mentioned earlier today in TUF 10 Finale Notes, it would be quite surprising not to see Kimbo’s name bantered about for a possible PPV event in the future. He’s likely got some injury issues to deal with, but the UFC is hard-up for draws at the moment, and while not a headliner, Kimbo will put butts in the seats (especially given a full blown marketing effort from the UFC).
However, in looking at the results from the TUF 10 Finale, one has to wonder how much buzz Kimbo will continue to generate in the future. The fans have finally seen enough of him to know that he’s not one of the top fighters, and traditionally MMA fans are pretty quick to turn when they smell something funny.
I think the numbers are pretty impressive considering they hyped Kimbo about 1/10 as much as they did for the Roy Nelson fight.
Disagree Michael, the peak was even less than Fedor on CBS as well as his first fight on TUF. There is definitely less interest in Kimbo now than there was a month ago.
“TUF 10” episode No. 1 = 4.1 million viewers
“TUF 10” episode No. 3 = 5.3 million viewers
“TUF 10” live finale = 3.7 million viewers
Says it all, IMHO.
Joseph
You are comparing a 3 hour show with a 1 hour show? Its hard to hold public attention for long periods of time. If the Interest in Kimbo dropped so much(i agree it has dropped somehwhat) why did 2 million additional views watch Kimbo fight compared to the start of the broadcast?
Also the final rating for TUF finale has no baring on Kimbo. Thats a mixture of 2 1/2 hours that has nothing to do with him. What does involve him is the 30 minutes that 5.2 million were watching him. That puts him in the same ballpark as his other performances.
BrainSmasher,
It matters because the TUF Finale will be the closest to an UFN card or a PPV he would take part in. There is not going to be a Kimbo show on Spike or a PPV dedicated to Kimbo, as far as I know.
I still fail to see hoe noone wanting to see everyone but Kimbo on TUF and everyone wanting to see Kimbo suggest Noone wants to see Kimbo anymore. That dont add up.
Fact is the show proved there is still tons of people interested in Kimbo. Adding him to a deeper UFN would make the final numbers better because people would tune in early to see other fighters and not JUST Kimbo. Adding him to a PPV is going to be a smart business move IMO. Because his “fans” have following followed him through the internet, to Showtime, to CBS, to Spike and im sure a large group will follow him to PPV.
Ken Shamrock was also a solid draw at one time but the more Kimbo fights the less appealing he has become and that street attitude which made him famous seems to have been replaced with a humble work ethic and respect factor. His marketing and popularity was mostly based on those qualities. That is how Tank abbot stay in the game for such a long period of time his marketing appealed to a lot of spectators. The big winner of TUF 10 is Roy Neilson he showed that he can fight and fans seem to be warming to his happy-go-lucky demeanor.
The problem for the UFC and Kimbo is that Kimbo is not exactly a top caliber fighter. The more the public is exposed to him, the less likely they will tune in for the next one (diminishing returns). As for the hardcore fans, I’d suggest most have turned away from the carnival by now.
I think hardcore fans are liking him even more. I hated him but now that i see the real him i enjoy watching him and him he can find a way to stick around. He is showing everyone that what he had isnt enough. Kimbo is a great testament to MMA because he has natural ability and it still isnt enough and he is letting everyone know how far he still has to go. It puts MMA fighters into perspective. I have been watching MMA from the start and i have no problem with Kimbo now. I did have a problem with Elite XC Kimbo being marketed as someone he wasnt.
Kimbo controls his destiny. He still has a ton of people interested in him. BUT he has to win. Looking at the UFC roster he is going to be hard pressed to find someone he can beat. Even the worst fighter in the UFC has takedowns and some ground game even guys like Tim Hage. He would get beat on the feet by the Eddie sanchez’s of the world(i know he isnt in the UFC) He would get killed by Hardonk and Pat Berry. I said from the start Houston was his best chance at a win even though i felt he wouldnt win on the feet and still felt he lost. The UFC will have to give him the Roger Huerta treatment. That means bring in unknown bums who have good misleading records that Joe Silva has found huge holes in their game. Then a guy who is 8-0 looks credible. But it is going to be very hard to get him any kind of win streat he dont have the skills to win consitantly. He may land big 1 fight then lose to the next who wasnt even what his last guy was. You start to see why Elite XC was forcing fighters to stand with him.
Good luck to Kimbo but i think his 15 minutes are going to be up soon.