The UFC's first of six live shows on Fuel set the all-time ratings record for the station, which isn't as impressive as that sounds given it's the lowest rated national cable station and it was averaging 7,000 viewers per show last week if you exclude the UFC programming.
The 2/15 show was the beginning of a long-term plan. The idea for FOX is to build Fuel into its own sports channel, and in doing so, the short-term goal is to sacrifice live UFC show audiences to create a climate of UFC fans calling their cable operators asking for the channel. It's one thing for replays of old PPV shows or even UFC Tonight and some live cards are on the channel to help in that direction. Where it becomes negative is when the Countdown shows are on the channel. The effectiveness of those shows is to get eyeballs who are on the bubble or not buying, into beoming PPV buyers. Airing on a channel only viewed by the most hardcore of fans and few others isn't going to be effective in that goal.
The first live full card on Fuel came from the Omaha Civic Auditorium, and was headlined by local fighter Jake Ellenberger, who got a hero's ovation. Now he didn't draw big, but those who were there were behind him in a big way. Ellenberger graduated from high school at the Civic Center and went on to wrestle at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He survived a late onslaught and got a late escape that may have saved him from either being on the wrong end of a finish or a 10-8 final round. That allowed him to hold on and decision Diego Sanchez by straight 29-28 scores.
Ellenberger won the first two rounds handily, and Sanchez won the third, but by not quite enough to get the 10-8 that would have seen the fight end as a draw.
The fight was so spectacular, and the tide had turned so much at the finish that it caused Dana White to change the company's directives on main events once again. Once the fights that are already under contract are completed, all main events will be five rounds. The rule had been that if a PPV show didn't have a title match, that the main event would go five rounds, and the same would go for shows on FOX. However, FX and Fuel cards were to have three round main events. When the fight was over, Sanchez said he wished it would go five rounds.
Another change is that Brian Stann got a shot at doing pre and post-fight analysis on this show and was so good that it appears he's going to be a regular for Fuel in this role, working with Jay Glazer. It may not be every show, because this coming week, Rich Franklin will be in the spot.
The show did 217,000 viewers, or an 0.5 rating, making it the most watched show in the history of the network. But it was all but guaranteed this show would set the station's all-time record. It was also the most watched evening and the most watched full day in the history of the network. 60% of the viewers were Males between the ages of 18-49, putting Fuel at No. 9 for the night in that demographic. It's also the epitome of a narrow appeal, whether it be the product, or the nature of the hardcore fan base that will go out of their way to find a station they aren't familiar with.
The Sanchez vs. Ellenberger fight did 315,000 viewers and an 0.7 rating. On the flip side, that was less viewers than any UFC or WEC show had ever done, but that was guaranteed to be the case on a network with limited clearance, as this show was available in barely half the homes Versus was. And it was available in barely half the homes MTV 2 is in and did a comparable number to what Bellator does, and in fact, beat many of the Bellator broadcasts for total viewers.
UFC has six events scheduled for Fuel, with the idea not necessarily doing big numbers, but more to have people call up cable companies asking about getting Fuel. Anecdotal reports have it that a lot of those calls were made, but whether that leads to more clearances remains to be seen.
The Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen fight may be moving to Rio de Janeiro instead of Sao Paulo due to the noise ordinance in Sao Paulo which wouldn't allow an event at the stadium ending past midnight. A UFC event would end closer to 2:30 a.m. there because of the time difference. No other venues in the city would be available on 6/16.
White noted that he had a meeting with Showtime last week and he's going to have more decision making power over the Strikeforce events. Exactly what that means is not known, but said the changes would be evident shortly. White is going to be heavily promoting the 3/3 Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey fight.
White also addressed Forrest Griffin vs. Tito Ortiz, after Lorenzo Fertitta talked about the fight. White said it's not happening when Lorenzo thought but it could happen. As noted last week, the plan was originally for the 5/5 show, and then for the 5/26 show, but Ortiz isn't likely to be ready as he's pretty banged up. There were hopes of putting it on 7/7 and promoting it as Ortiz's retirement fight and making a big deal about it, if he can make it by that date.
The death of Mike Bernardo, the K-1 star from the late 90s, is now being reported to be a suicide caused by depression at the age of 42.