Kimbo Slice vs. Roy Nelson Draws Record 6.1 Million Viewers
A Spike TV-record 6.1 million viewers tuned in to The Ultimate Fighter 10 on Wednesday to watch the anticipated matchup between Kimbo Slice and Roy Nelson, according to a press release issued on Thursday by the cable network:
Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights” is the undisputed ratings champ on Wednesday nights. The most recent episode of the tenth season of “The Ultimate Fighter” drew 5.3 million viewers, peaking at a staggering 6.1 million viewers on Wednesday, September 30 (10:00pm-11:00pm ET/PT). Featuring a fight between contestants Kimbo Slice and Roy Nelson, the telecast ranks as the most-watched episode of an original series in the six-year history of the channel* and the most-watched program of any kind in Men 18-34 and Men 18-49.
“The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights” was clearly the top-rated program on television on Wednesday with men in all key demographics including Men 18-34, M18-49, M18-24, and M25-34. It also was the most watched program among Persons 18-34 with a 4.7 rating (2.7 million), illustrating co-viewing among young men and women.
The episode also drew more Men 18-34 than anything else on television this week thus far, except Monday Night Football on ESPN. Also of note, only seven series in all of television this fall season drew more men 18-34, despite “The Ultimate Fighter” being in its tenth season.
Overall, the record-breaking telecast drew a 6.9 in Men 18-34 (2 million), a 5.4 in M18-49 (3.1 million), a household rating of 3.7 and 5.3 million total viewers.
The 6.1 million viewership peak at 9:45pm for the Kimbo Slice- Roy Nelson fight trumps any UFC programming ever on Spike TV. The previous mark was 5.9 million viewers for Rampage Jackson-Dan Henderson fight at UFC 75 in September, 2007. Also, the repeat at 11:00pm drew an impressive 1.5 million viewers. Thus, the combined audience of both telecasts reached 6.8 million viewers.
The Ultimate Fighter 10 Coverage
Pictured: Kimbo Slice
Tags: kimbo slice, Roy Nelson
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All about the ratings yuppers.
Six million plus…
I’m old enough [32] to remember when PPV and cable providers preferred to offer the nastiest hardcore porn rather than air a UFC event, or anything even remotely connected to MMA.
These sort of numbers are sweet justice for those of us who grew up idolizing a sport that 9 out of 10 people had never heard of, and was illegal in like 40something states the day I got my driver’s license…
I’m the same age, so yeah, I concur.
Thats some crazy ratings right there. This pretty much guarantees the UFC feeds Kimbo some cans just to keep him in the UFC. I would love to see him vs Chuck. I guess Kimbos aura has got a hold of me too! damn!
Nelson just layed on him. Stand up and bang roy
No fighter bashing. -Justin
Dana White must’ve studied Don King’s book “Only in America”..and that’s a compliment..
that fight was a major let down. Roy did nothin but lay his fat a$$ on Kimbo and “tap” him over and over. No damage done. Kimbo showed he still has no ground game. I’m not a Kimbo supporter but I think he deserves a second chance. I can’t wait to see someone knock the cheeseburger outta Roys mouth
It probably wasn’t a fight that will get MMA many new fans but it shows how much interest Kimbo Slice can generate. Can’t see Dana White letting this man get away without signing him up one way or another.
Kimbo isn’t going anywhere. In all honesty, I’m betting they get a rematch..whether it’s in one of the last fights on the show or on the finale. It is reality programming, but just like every other reality show it a manufactured reality. Everyone who watched will tune back in if there’s a rematch. On a side note, if I was training Kimbo…he wouldn’t get off the ground in training unless it was to run, the guy knows how to stand up..I’d have him spend months studying nothing but ground game and cardio. Maybe the last couple weeks give him a stand up refresher.
Some people are mad because the UFC are using Kimbo to get viewers, but at least they have positioned him as a humble guy trying to learn rather than a world beater. If you want to get mad about it, keep in mind, if it wasn’t for Kimbo, there wouldn’t even be 6.1 million people who had heard of Roy Nelson. Kimbo gets everyone on the show exposure, and that’s a good thing.
haters want to hate!
I know everyone keeps complaining about the way Big Country won, but I see it a different way.
Roy said at the house that he was gonna crucifix Kimbo and beat him by stoppage. That is what he did. He also said that because of the rules, you don’t even need to hit the guy heard, you can just slap him in the face. If you aren’t defending yourself, the ref will stop the fight every time. He even encouraged his teammates to count along with every strike, making it harder for the ref to not stop the fight.
He did everything he said he would do. He took no damage in the fight, and more importantly, did no damage to Kimbo. Roy could have pounded the daylights out of Kimbo but chose not to, because he knew that within the rules he didn’t have to do that to win. He could have submitted Kimbo too, but opted to stick with his game plan. That takes discipline. Roy is a much smarter fighter than people give him credit for. He understands the rules of the game far more than most fighters. Remember, this isn’t a regular fight, this is a part of a tournament where guys have to fight 3 times in less than 6 weeks. The less damage you take and the safer you play it, the better off you are.
Despite Roy “laying” on Kimbo, it was still the most interesting fight of the season. Here’s hoping Wes Sims goes crazy in his fight so I don’t fall asleep.
Imagine ther ratings if Kimbo had KOed Nelson and started tearin through guys. Then gets to the finale. Man there would have been like 7-9 million viewers by that time.
I agree with the standard so much bashing on nelson but he did out class kimbo. and everyone is impressed with kimbo but when does being a nice guy on a reality tv show make you a good mma fighter. Dana white said kimbo took a big fight like a man but nelson also took a big fight with kimbo because if he lost what a let down that would be to the former ifl heavywieght champ. Maybe he did take the easy way out but also the smartest.
Honestly I think Roy did what he did to embarrass Kimbo. It worked.
Nelson embarrasses himself more whenever he appears without a shirt then he embarrassed Kimbo by his performance the other night…
Embarrass him? Uh, ok…I am VERY impressed that he called his technique and delivered. Nelson will in this thing, if only because he seems to be the only man with technique.
Don’t know if i’m getting this right,but does that mean that that show got better ratings than anderson silva’s first fight at light heavy against james irvin?Maby it’s just me but that seems pretty surprising.Being that we got to watch the p4p best for free.
PPV isn’t rated by nielsens I don’t believe, it is reasonable to expect a free event on cable to have more viewers then a 50$ PPV.
Oh that was free? I don’t remember all those UFC’s are a blur.. when I hear ASilva I just automatically think PPV
And yes loosing like that should be embarrassing.. you lost to a dude who isolated you then rabbit punched you until the ref had to stop it. His boys counted out the unanswered hits.
Pretty embarrassing if you ask me. I know I would not like to loose that way.
kimbo has disappointed me.
at least he should have remembered to put his feet up in guard and use them….
will he be able to be a decent ground fighter?