UFC 89 on Spike Draws 2.6 Million Viewers
Posted by Kris Karkoski on Oct 23, 2008 at 1:54 pm ET6 Comments
Headlined by a middleweight matchup between Michael Bisping and Chris Leben, UFC 89 “Bisping vs. Leben” drew an average of 2.6 million viewers for the event’s free Spike TV broadcast.
The event peaked at 3.4 million viewers during Bisping’s unanimous decision main event victory over Leben.
Airing opposite of game 6 of the American League Championship Series between the Tamba Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox as well as several college football games, UFC 89 still managed to rank second among 18-49 year-old males.
Though still a success, the event fell short of the 4.7 million viewers who tuned into Spike TV last September for Quinton “Rampage” Jackson’s successful title defense over Dan Henderson at UFC 75.
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This is a big success for UFC. They were going against MLB and thats a pretty big rating, Imagine if Baseball wasn’t on. UFC keeps getting bigger and bigger.
Good event, in my mind the main event was Vera vs Jardine, thats the fight i was waiting to see….
Rampage vs Henderson was a historic match for MMA, champ vs champ, i would have been very surprised if bisping vs leben topped it…
I would have bought Hendo vs Rampage but i wouldn’t have bought leben vs bisping.
The UFC is not going to make it with those numbers. The Elite XC got twice that a few weeks ago. If I had money to bet, I’d put it on Elite XC.
LOL@ Gonzo….but seriously, I’m sure a good portion of the number differential had to do with the fact that CBS you can get with a regular TV, no cable or anything, for Spike you have to have cable/satellite.
Gonzo, if the beer I just spit ruins my monitor, I’m coming for you
Dirty,agreed,i wouldn’t of paid for it either.Although it was a good card,if there’s not a title on the line i probally won’t pay,unless it’s franklin/hendo rashard/lidell a fight of that nature.