MMAPayout.com has learned that the seventh episode of TUF 11 earned a 1.3 HH rating on the strength of 1.8 million viewers; the broadcast also drew a 1.9 in the M18-34 and 1.7 in the M18-49 demographics.
Payout Perspective:
The ratings have leveled off at the 1.3 marking over the last 3-4 weeks and enough episodes have passed to suggest that 1.3 is likely where this show will end up in aggregate. However, I wouldn’t be surprised to see an up-tick in interest on account of the Tito-Franklin angle in the next couple weeks.
The 1.3 average is materially higher than what the show did pre-Kimbo (TUF 10), which suggests that some of the new viewers he brought to last year’s season have stuck around for this one as well. His recent departure raised some eyebrows considering how big of a draw he was for the organization, but I’m reluctant to call the departure a bad move. In fact, I think it was probably the right time for him to be cut: the UFC gave him a shot, got what it wanted out of the deal, and was able to move on without hurting its credibility to any significant degree.
I think of my self as pretty good at breaking down fights and when i asked myself who would i set Kimbo up to get him a win. Thats when i realized he needed to go. There is noone you can put in with him and expect him to win. You really have to comb the globe for poor fighters with credible records just to built him. With Houston and Mitrone they UFC used the worst fighters they had and he didnt impress.If he would have put Houston away impressively i think the UFC would have tried harder to give him a better match up then Mitrone. I think the UFC decided after that fight they were moving on without Kimbo. More than a few fighters from TUF said Mitrone was tearing Kimbo up on the show off camera. So is suspect the UFC knew who would win their fight when they set it up. Noones better at match making with their information than Joe Silva and Dana White.
BUt im glad to see the TUF show getting a shot in the arm. I havent got to see but a couple episodes this season.