Ratings Cage Match: UFC Fight Night 20 vs. WWE Raw vs. TNA

by Zak Woods on Jan 15, 2010 9:30 AM EST Comment 8 comments

We here at WKR don't subscribe to the whole UFC vs. WWE narrative, nor the MMA vs. boxing narrative. But that doesn't change the fact that a perception of competition exists between the UFC and the WWE so we will indulge in that narrative for a few lines.

The Camel Clutch Blog breaks down the head-to-head ratings for Fight Night 20 vs. Raw and it is safe to say the UFC got their asses kicked.

The cable ratings are in and wow, this is quite a story here. The WWE smashed the UFC right in the mouth on Monday night. WWE RAW came in at a 3.7 rating for the night, with 5.45 million people tuning in to see pro wrestling. The UFC Fight Night produced a 1.1 rating with 1.7 million people watching. Even more shocking are the numbers of adults 18-49 that watched both shows. The WWE came in with a 2.1, while the UFC came in at 0.9. I guess some adults still prefer that "phony rasslin" to the smash-mouthed "real fighting" in MMA.

The WWE pulled out the big guns while there were no big names on the UFC offering. But there is another rating that might make MMA fans give a collective face palm.

There are a few other stories that come out of these numbers that are also rather interesting. Last week’s TNA Wrestling had 2.02 million viewers in the 9-11 PM time slot. So not only did the WWE beat the UFC, but TNA Wrestling also grabbed more viewers than the UFC did in the same time slot. I think that Spike TV dropped a ball here and should have done a little cross promotion last week on Impact, similar to what the UFC did when they had Hulk Hogan on its show. It is one thing to lose out to the WWE, but a whole other story when TNA Wrestling beats out a UFC event in the same time slot a week earlier.

Plus, there wasn't even competition from Monday Night Football.

Of course comparing a sporting event to a live theatrical production doesn't really work. On the other hand they do compete for the same demographics...

It will be interesting to see if the UFC decides to hold events on a Monday again.

SBN coverage of UFC Fight Night 20: Maynard vs. Diaz

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Comments

It’s getting ridiculous how much cross-promotion the UFC is doing, and getting none in return. They shill the fuck out of every other show on Spike, and all they get back is some commercials.

by agentsmith on Jan 15, 2010 9:55 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

its Spike’s top ratings draw so it makes sense that whatever big move production move they make will have promo’s on an UFC event

watchkalibrun.com

by Zak Woods on Jan 15, 2010 10:09 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Bret Hart and Hulk Hogan.

These ratings are no surprise considering who was being promoted on those cards.

by BobOBuilder on Jan 15, 2010 10:26 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Everybody loves Brett Hart

No disagreement from me just thought it was interesting

watchkalibrun.com

by Zak Woods on Jan 15, 2010 10:29 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Not gonna lie, i DVR’d RAW haha

by BobOBuilder on Jan 15, 2010 11:16 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

haha

watchkalibrun.com

by Zak Woods on Jan 15, 2010 12:18 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Here’s the thing. Pro Wrestling has all their top stars on every show. The only way to compare apples to apples was if the UFC with all their top stars as well. That means Couture, Lesnar, Tito, Chuck, Rampage and every major name on one card. Does anyone thin that would lose to wrestling in the ratings?

The UFC and MMA in general doesn’t have to compete with wrestling anymore because they already won. Look at the PPV buyrates. WWE PPV’s get as few as 75,000 buys in North America and average in the mid 100,000s. That’s less than half of UFC 108, which was considered a MAJOR disappointment, in terms of buys.

by Steve W on Jan 15, 2010 6:18 PM EST reply actions 0 recs