MMA Paper Trail: Struck Down

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Statistics & Data

World Series of Fighting 1
Nov. 3 (NBC Sports Network) | Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas
Marquee Fight(s): Andrei Arlovski vs. Devon Cole, Miguel Torres vs. Marlon Moraes

• 5,485: Attendance (1,499 paid, 4,076 comped)
• $82,608: Gate
• 198,000: Average viewers for broadcast
• $60,000: Highest purse payout on the show -- to Arlvoski
• $4,000: Lowest purse payout on the show -- to Travis Bartlett, who lost to Tyrone Spong

Notes: Audience on NBC Sports Network, formerly Versus, was lower than 270,000-viewer boxing average on the station and lower than any WEC broadcast on the channel during its run on the station from 2007 to 2010. Promotion hints at February return event, though nothing confirmed. Television slot reportedly a time-buy, meaning the promotion paid the network to air the show, with the goal of compelling the network to pay for future ones.

UFC on Fuel TV 6 “Franklin v. Le”
Nov. 10 (Fuel TV) | Cotai Arena, Macau, China
Marquee Fight(s): Cung Le vs. Rich Franklin

• 8,415: Attendance
• $1.3 million: Gate
• 88,000: Average viewers for live airing at 9 a.m. ET
• 128,000: Peak audience for morning airing during Le vs. Franklin
• 143,000: Average viewers for replay airing at 7 p.m. ET
• 146,000: Audience watching live on Rogers SportsNet in Canada
• $40,000: Value of post-fight awards, which went to Cung Le for “Knockout of the Night,” Thiago Silva for “Submission of the Night” and Mac Danzig and Takanori Gomi for “Fight of the Night”

Notes: UFC’s debut in China. Lowest audience for a live UFC event on Fuel TV and perhaps lowest in UFC history on any channel. Event aired live from China, meaning start time of 9 a.m. ET/6 a.m. PT, with replays throughout the day. Amount of comped tickets believed to be very high for the event, which took place on a Venetian casino property.

UFC 154 “St. Pierre vs. Condit”
Nov. 17 (Pay-Per-View) | Bell Centre, Montreal
Marquee Fight(s): Georges St. Pierre vs. Carlos Condit

• 17,249: Attendance (approximately 15,000 paid)
• $3.14 million: Gate
• 680,000-700,000: Pay-per-view buys
• 980,000: Average viewers for preliminary fights on FX
• 340: Number of movie theatres nationwide that screened the event
• $70,000: Value of post-fight awards, which went to Johny Hendricks for “Knockout of the Night,” Ivan Menjivar for “Submission of the Night” and St. Pierre and Condit for “Fight of the Night”

Notes: St. Pierre’s first fight in 18 months. Lowest attendance and gate of UFC’s five events at the Bell Centre. Rivals UFC 145 “Jones vs. Evans” for second-biggest PPV buy rate of the year behind UFC 148 at 900,000. Significant factor is Toronto opening up for the UFC, so fewer fans from that city, an MMA popularity hub, traveled to Montreal. Ratings for “Primetime” specials on FX hyping the fight did bigger audiences than average for the series on the channel this year (Nick Diaz vs. Condit, Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans, Junior dos Santos vs. Frank Mir).

“The Ultimate Fighter 16: Team Carwin vs. Team Nelson”
Fridays (FX)

• Nov. 2: 1.06 million average viewers; featured Jon Manley vs. James Chaney, coaches’ challenge and drunken confrontations; highest rating of the season at 0.8 and second biggest audience; rating up 90 percent among adult women from prior week
• Nov. 9: 921,000 average viewers; featured Mike Ricci vs. Dom Waters
• Nov. 16: 643,000 average viewers; featured Neil Magny vs. Bristol Mardune; second-lowest audience of the season and “Ultimate Fighter” history; among males, ages 18-34, it was 10th in its time slot on cable, compared to sixth for least-watched episode on Oct. 12

Bellator Fighting Championships Season 7
Fridays (MTV2)

• Nov. 2: 220,000 average viewers; featured Richard Hale vs. Thiago Santos; biggest audience of the season
• Nov. 9: 148,000 average viewers; featured Joe Warren vs. Owen Evinger; second lowest audience of the season
• Nov. 16: 149,000 average viewers; featured Marcin Held vs. Rich Clementi

The MMA Paper Trail is a monthly feature examining the business side of mixed martial arts.