Spike TV: UFC 121 Prelims Earn 1.5 Million Viewers
Mike Whitman Oct 26, 2010
The UFC 121 “Lesnar vs. Velasquez” prelims, which aired live on
Spike TV prior to the event’s pay-per-view broadcast on Saturday
from the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., netted an average of 1.5
million viewers.
The hour-long special, which featured two undercard fights, also earned a 1.03 household rating. The results were relayed to Sherdog.com by Spike TV officials via e-mail on Tuesday. Additionally, the program scored a rating of 1.42 in two key demographics: males, ages 18 to 34, and males, ages 18 to 49.
The broadcast peaked at 1.64 million viewers and featured two middleweight contests. In the first fight, Tom Lawlor used superior wrestling to pummel and nearly submit former title challenger Patrick Cote before earning a unanimous decision. The second matchup saw “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 11 winner Court McGee outlast the more experienced Ryan Jensen en route to a third-round submission victory.
The ratings represent a strong showing for the UFC. The earned viewership makes the event the third-most watched prelims special, tied with UFC 108, which also netted 1.5 million viewers. Only UFC 114 and UFC 109, which earned 1.6 and 1.7 million viewers, respectively, eclipsed the UFC 121 broadcast.
The event was headlined by a heavyweight championship tilt between champion Brock Lesnar and challenger Cain Velasquez. The challenger used superior movement and hand speed to dominate the hulking titleholder, as Velasquez knocked out Lesnar in the first round to become the new UFC heavyweight champion.
The hour-long special, which featured two undercard fights, also earned a 1.03 household rating. The results were relayed to Sherdog.com by Spike TV officials via e-mail on Tuesday. Additionally, the program scored a rating of 1.42 in two key demographics: males, ages 18 to 34, and males, ages 18 to 49.
The broadcast peaked at 1.64 million viewers and featured two middleweight contests. In the first fight, Tom Lawlor used superior wrestling to pummel and nearly submit former title challenger Patrick Cote before earning a unanimous decision. The second matchup saw “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 11 winner Court McGee outlast the more experienced Ryan Jensen en route to a third-round submission victory.
The ratings represent a strong showing for the UFC. The earned viewership makes the event the third-most watched prelims special, tied with UFC 108, which also netted 1.5 million viewers. Only UFC 114 and UFC 109, which earned 1.6 and 1.7 million viewers, respectively, eclipsed the UFC 121 broadcast.
The event was headlined by a heavyweight championship tilt between champion Brock Lesnar and challenger Cain Velasquez. The challenger used superior movement and hand speed to dominate the hulking titleholder, as Velasquez knocked out Lesnar in the first round to become the new UFC heavyweight champion.
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