Brian II

[The Clue of the Tapping Heels]

I never said kimbo was in UFC dumbass, I said he represented MMA writ large's attempt at breaking into the mainstream. Then StrikeForce had Emelianko but by then the ship apparently had sailed.

Pay attention negro.

[sexual tyrannosaurus]

Okay, so you're claiming that something that brought in record breaking numbers for a network mixed martial arts events just two months ago will be the last one to be aired with no apparent links or outside sources to back this up.

I think we're done here OVK. 

[Webcam ham.]

Way to go, OVK.

[The Clue of the Tapping Heels]

May 31, 2008: EliteXC Primetime (feat. Slice) - 4.85 million avg, 6.51 million peak. <- Most-watched MMA event in TV history

July 26, 2008: EliteXC Unfinished Business (feat. nobodies) - 3.0 million avg

Oct. 4, 2008: EliteXC Heat (feat. Slice) - 4.38 million avg <- lost to college football on the same night, and lost to America's Most Wanted in the 18-49 demographic

EliteXC collapses not long after

Nov. 7, 2009: Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers (feat. Fedor) - 4.04 million avg <- lost to everything except a rerun of Mercy

So we have a grand total of four events on CBS, plus a weekly series on NBC that pulled in less than 1.0 million a show. I can't find any MMA show on broadcast TV today, and none are currently scheduled for like the next three months.

This does not look like a sport that has escaped the recesses of cable TV.

[Webcam ham.]

The viewership figures listed below are based on live viewership, plus same-day DVR, rounded to the nearest 1,000 viewers, and the times listed are ET/PT. The indicated times begin at the opening bell of a fight and end at the minute in which the winner of the fight is known.

Please note that all of the fights listed below aired on a live event broadcast, either live or on a same-day tape delay, as opposed to being taped months in advance for a reality show such as The Ultimate Fighter. Based on the minute-by-minute ratings for the fight between Kimbo Slice and Roy Nelson, which aired on the September 30 episode of The Ultimate Fighter 10 from 10:45 PM to 10:56 PM, that fight drew an average of 5.931 million viewers (based on premiere viewership, plus same-day DVR viewership).

In addition, please note that these are just the most-watched fights on live event broadcasts in U.S. MMA history, not the most-watched in worldwide MMA history. In Japan, a fight would need to draw over 30 million viewers to crack the top five.

Most-Watched Individual Fights on Live Event Broadcasts in U.S. MMA History

Based on Average Number of Viewers using Minute-by-Minute Ratings

1. EliteXC on CBS (5/31/2008): Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson: 7.281 million viewers (Aired from 11:27 PM to 11:40 PM)

2. UFC: The Final Chapter on Spike TV (10/10/2006): Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock: 6.524 million viewers (Aired from 9:42 PM to 9:45 PM)

3. EliteXC on CBS (10/4/2008): Seth Petruzelli vs. Kimbo Slice: 6.451 million viewers (Aired from 11:08 PM to 11:08 PM)

4. EliteXC on CBS (5/31/2008): Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith: 5.867 million viewers (Aired from 10.39 PM to 10:57 PM)

5. UFC 75 on Spike TV (9/8/2007): Quinton Jackson vs. Dan Henderson: 5.811 million viewers (Aired from 11:29 PM to 12:03 AM)

6. EliteXC on CBS (5/31/2008): Gina Carano vs. Kaitlin Young: 5.508 million viewers (Aired from 10:09 PM to 10:17 PM)

7. UFC 75 on Spike TV (9/8/2007): Michael Bisping vs. Matt Hamill: 5.475 million viewers (Aired from 10:41 PM to 11:06 PM)

8. Strikeforce on CBS (11/7/2009): Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brett Rogers: 5.467 million viewers (Aired from 11:01 PM to 11:09 PM)

9. EliteXC on CBS (10/4/2008): Jake Shields vs. Paul Daley: 5.338 million viewers (Aired from 10:34 PM to 10:44 PM)

10. EliteXC on CBS (10/4/2008): Gina Carano vs. Kelly Kobold: 5.171 million viewers (Aired from 9:45 PM to 9:59 PM)

11. EliteXC on CBS (10/4/2008): Andrei Arlovski vs. Roy Nelson: 5.154 million viewers (Aired from 10:12 PM to 10:20 PM)

12. UFC: The Final Chapter on Spike TV (10/10/2006): Kendall Grove vs. Chris Price: 5.100 million viewers (Aired from 9:13 PM to 9:17 PM)

13. UFC 75 on Spike TV (9/8/2007): Cheick Kongo vs. Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic: 5.098 million viewers (Aired from 9:58 PM to 10:24 PM)

14. UFC 75 on Spike TV (9/8/2007): Marcus Davis vs. Paul Taylor: 5.023 million viewers (Aired from 9:35 PM to 9:39 PM)

15. UFC Fight Night on Spike TV (7/19/2008): Anderson Silva vs. James Irvin: 4.795 million viewers (Aired from 11:38 PM to 11:38 PM)

16. Strikeforce on CBS (11/7/2009): Jake Shields vs. Jason Miller: 4.381 million viewers (Aired from 10:11 PM to 10:44 PM)

17. EliteXC on CBS (5/31/2008): Joey Villasenor vs. Phil Baroni: 4.348 million viewers (Aired from 9:47 PM to 9:48 PM)

18. UFC: The Final Chapter on Spike TV (10/10/2006): Jason MacDonald vs. Ed Herman: 4.297 millon viewers (Aired from 8:44 PM to 8:47 PM)

19. UFC 75 on Spike TV (9/8/2007): Houston Alexander vs. Alessio Sakara: 4.204 million viewers (Aired from 9:13 PM to 9:14 PM)

20. UFC: The Final Chapter on Spike TV (10/10/2006): Matt Hamill vs. Seth Petruzelli: 4.007 million viewers (Aired from 8:09 PM to 8:28 PM)

[sexual tyrannosaurus]

Considering the Fedor v Rogers fight beat over 50% of the things on its time slot (and that was only the overnight numbers), I'm glad OVK can still fall back to blatantly making up lies about things to try and bolster his points while failing miserably.

I think we're done here OVK 

[Webcam ham.]

Well Noah, clearly MMA is not as popular as football in the US, so MMA is irrelevant.

[sexual tyrannosaurus]

It's rather funny watching OVK claim that MMA is both growing and shrinking at the same time. Classic OVK.

[Webcam ham.]

Gatorade sponsors GSP. You know they only sponsor unpopular athletes in dying sports.

[The Clue of the Tapping Heels]

Considering the Fedor v Rogers fight beat over 50% of the things on its time slot (and that was only the overnight numbers), I'm glad OVK can still fall back to blatantly making up lies about things to try and bolster his points while failing miserably.

I think we're done here OVK 

Way to go, Fedor vs. Rogers beat a rerun of This Week in the Senate on C-SPAN2. I don't know how desperate you have to be to say that MMA beat the dregs of cable on a Saturday night, but there you go.

Also it's pretty funny that your list of most-watched MMA events in US history only has two events from 2009 in it. Your list proves is that there is a core of about 4-5 million viewers for MMA for any given event, and that's it. It also proves that MMA's popularity has retreated from where it was in 2008.

[Webcam ham.]

Which, again, is why the UFC saw a 20% revenue increase in 2009, right?

[sexual tyrannosaurus]

Even if you're angry about my statement, it doesn't mean that your statement was any less fucking false than it was. Don't make up fabrications to make your dumb theories seem more legitimate and then you wont get angry when I correct you.

[The Clue of the Tapping Heels]

Which, again, is why the UFC saw a 20% revenue increase in 2009, right?

20% from squat is still squat nigga.

Face it, until MMA gets people regularly covering it as anything more than a sideshow, it is a niche sport.

[sexual tyrannosaurus]

ESPN Sports Center just ran a small piece on WEC results.

WEC results.

You ever hear of WEC? Exactly.

20% from squat is still squat nigga.

Aren't you trying to prove that the sport is shrinking? You are fucking awful at this.

[The Legend of the Emerald Lady]

haha this thread is for real

[The Clue of the Tapping Heels]

ESPN Sports Center just ran a small piece on WEC results.

WEC results.

You ever hear of WEC? Exactly.

ESPN also covers college lacrosse from time to time. I guess college lacrosse is poised to really hit the big time!!

Aren't you trying to prove that the sport is shrinking? You are fucking awful at this.

It has shrunk from its highs in 2008, as I've established. It has followed the pattern of being a fad, dawg, because as far as the world outside of MMA fandom is concerned, it was a fad and may never be anything more.

[Webcam ham.]

I actually don't think you've established that at all. UFC grew 20% in a recession, Strikeforce established a relationship with a major network, and UFC undisputed moved a couple million copies (videogame). UFC 100 also did 1.6 million PPV buys, the highest in company history. The only shrinkage is in your pants, sir.

[The Clue of the Tapping Heels]

That's great. Until it overtakes the MLS in terms of interest, it will remain below the radar.

[Webcam ham.]

God you're stupid.

[The Clue of the Tapping Heels]

Yo dawg, just face it. MMA and boxing are on equal terms when it comes to how much the general public cares about them.

[Webcam ham.]

So basically MMA has had it's biggest year in 2009, yet you're still trying to say it's receding from public interest. Again, nothing you have mentioned supports this at all.

[The Clue of the Tapping Heels]

Do you see MMA covered by the major networks? More than twice in the past 400 days, that is? Because fucking soccer has been on broadcast more often than that.

"MMA has had it's biggest year in 2009," that's like saying Tom Tancredo had his biggest year in 2008. Neither is poised to take shit over on a wide scale, just deal with it duder like the rest of the fans of niche sports do.

[Webcam ham.]

You still haven't proven that it's losing popularity. Are you backing off of your initial argument because you're wrong as shit and have no substantial proof other than you and your friends are skinny pussies and can't fight so fighting doesn't interest you?

[The Clue of the Tapping Heels]

Yo, what part of "MMA has been completely kicked off broadcast TV due to lack of interest" don't you understand?

P.S. MMA is not fighting because normally people don't fight in an enclosed space that allows cheap faggots a ridiculous amount of leverage

[Webcam ham.]

It's been kicked off of broadcast tv? Oh, explains why strikeforce just had a successful event and has another scheduled in April on network television. Right. Thanks ovk.

[sexual tyrannosaurus]

So, a non-championship bout between Fedor and Rogers almost triples the ratings that the MLS FUCKING FINALS gets, and you're saying that Strikeforce is less popular than MLS?

I think we're done here OVK 

[The Clue of the Tapping Heels]

Here's how the average American interperets your comment:

So a non-championship fight between some Russian and some faggot does blah blah blah only MMA fans tuned in as its numbers were average for an MMA fight.

It triples the ratings of MLS. Congrats. That's why networks are clawing over each other to put it on TV on a regular basis. Oh wait, they're not, because not even shitty NBC will deal with it.

You can bitch all you want. Appearing on real TV once or twice a year does not a legit sport make.

[sexual tyrannosaurus]

That's great. Until it overtakes the MLS in terms of interest, it will remain below the radar.

It triples the ratings of MLS. Congrats.

 

[The Clue of the Tapping Heels]

Yo dawg, dollars to donuts there are more soccer fans than MMA fans in this country. If the networks thought like you did, they'd be shoehorning this shit in at least once a month. Instead, either no MMA organization can get its shit together to give the proper fighters a push (arguable since a lot of them are simply garbage anyway) or there just isn't that much interest at all in giving it a push.

Come back when a network gives MMA a regular timeslot like NBC did, and then yanked.

[sexual tyrannosaurus]

That's great. Until it overtakes the MLS in terms of interest, it will remain below the radar.

It triples the ratings of MLS. Congrats.

 

[Webcam ham.]

That's great. Until it overtakes the MLS in terms of interest, it will remain below the radar.

It triples the ratings of MLS. Congrats.

 

I think we're done here OVK 

[The Girl Who Couldn't Remember]

You still haven't proven that it's losing popularity. Are you backing off of your initial argument because you're wrong as shit and have no substantial proof other than you and your friends are skinny pussies and can't fight so fighting doesn't interest you?

I hope you really don't believe this, Vinnie. I'd be lucky to execute a moonsault, let alone a springboard 450 or a shooting star press, but I really like wrestling with lucha libre and Japanese style.

The only reason, the ONLY reason I don't watch MMA is because I find it boring. In the same way that I find soccer, golf, NASCAR, and any number of other sports boring.

Not to back up OVK (and obviously there are no facts for this), but I wouldn't be surprised if this mid/late 2000s boom period of MMA is similar to the late '90s/early 2000s boom period of wrestling, in that it gets really popular with the mainstream for a short time and then regresses. In essence, to people like OVK who are outside of both fandoms, he would just perceive it as a fad that happened during a certain era. For it to regress, though, MMA would have to make calculated mistakes (like wrestling did in presenting the same wrestlers over and over again for years until people got sick of it). The business cycle isn't just mindlessly cyclical. If Dana White truly is a genius, then he could somehow maintain or even increase interest.

[The Clue of the Tapping Heels]

POGs, Furbies and the Cabbage Patch Kids went down on their own. Fads tend to die when people simply become bored with them.

[Webcam ham.]

You still haven't proven that it's losing popularity. Are you backing off of your initial argument because you're wrong as shit and have no substantial proof other than you and your friends are skinny pussies and can't fight so fighting doesn't interest you?

I hope you really don't believe this, Vinnie. I'd be lucky to execute a moonsault, let alone a springboard 450 or a shooting star press, but I really like wrestling with lucha libre and Japanese style.

Well I believe that OVK really is a skinny pussy but it was really more being snide than anything else. In regards to the second half of your post, while I agree it's not as mainstream as the NFL or MLB, obviously, it continues to grow in popularity contrary to what OVK believes. There's numbers and facts to support this argument, while OVK is basing his entire argument on the fact that he doesn't like MMA and has no evidence to support the claim. While you might not like it, there's no denying it's increasing popularity. I mean, I hate baseball, but to say no one gives a shit about it because I don't like it is ridiculous. You can call it a fad all you want, but until you can prove that it's in a decline, you're just being a dick and have no argument.

[The Clue of the Tapping Heels]

Making money != gaining much attention. The MLS is making money now and it still hasn't done much of anything to pierce the collective American conscience.

[Webcam ham.]

I'm content with the fact that you have nothing to back up your argument. I think we're done here OVK. 

[The Clue of the Tapping Heels]

If a frostbite victim can count the number of times your sport is on broadcast TV in a calendar year, you just might be a niche sport.

[sexual tyrannosaurus]

That's great. Until it overtakes the MLS in terms of interest, it will remain below the radar.

It triples the ratings of MLS. Congrats.

 

[sexual tyrannosaurus]

God, I mean, I said to myself I wasn't going to respond to this shit, but it's so drastically stupid that I just can't. It's just like having to pop bubble wrap. OVK's stupidity is like bubble wrap.

If a frostbite victim can count the number of times your sport is on broadcast TV in a calendar year, you just might be a niche sport.

I mean, this defies all logical thinking. All UFC major events are on ppv because Dana White can charge 50 bucks per event and makes a ludicrous amount of money that way. All UFC minor events are broadcasted on Spike TV as per contract, since Spike jumped on that as fast as humanly possible. Most Strikeforce events are aired on Showtime because this was the original contract, and NBC actually yanked some of these events to put them on network TV because they saw the rise in ratings on the Showtime shows and decided to see how it went. It went fantastically, and they're arranging for more as we speak.

Yet, somehow, like a brain damaged toddler, you do not take any of this information in, and repeat the same utter shit "well it's only been on broadcast TV twice in 2009" despite the fact that there were ten strikeforce events in total meaning that 20% of Strikeforce bouts were broadcasted on national television. Can I get the percentage of MLS games broadcasted on national television compared to MLS' entire season? Can I get baseballs, is it so drastically higher?

[Crime in the Queen's Court]

It's a question of legitimacy.

WWE, Boxing and UFC cater to PPV audiences, hence all three are looked down upon. People figure that if it's on PPV it's too violent, too expensive, too exclusive, etc.

MLS is trying to replace hockey as the 4th major sport. None of the major sports need PPV because they pass the buck to their tickeholders, concessions and advertising rights.

In all, legitimacy as a sport is directly related to where a sport's money comes from.