UFC on Versus Ratings

The UFC's debut on Versus drew approximately 1.24 million viewers

The question many fans will be asking themselves was whether or not this event was a success for the UFC and/or Versus?

This is just the beginning of the UFC and Versus relationship so it is way too early to make a definitive answer, plus we don't really know what the goal is, but we can compare the ratings from the last several Spike cards and WEC cards

UFC cards on Spike
Fight Night 20 - 1.7 million viewers
TUF 10 Finale - 3.7 million viewers
Fight Night 19 - 2.5 million viewers
TUF 9 Finale - 2.2 million viewers
Fight Night 18 -1.9 million viewers

WEC cards on Versus (Note: Versus wasn't on DirecTV's line-up since WEC 42)
- WEC 47 - 373,000 viewers
- WEC 46 - 640,000 viewers
- WEC 45 -330,000 viewers
- WEC 44 - 414,000 viewers
- WEC 43 - 419,000 viewers
- WEC 42 - 670,000 viewers

The UFC's Versus debut outdrew every single WEC card on Versus that WKR has data on except for WEC 34, which featured a featherweight title fight between Urijah Faber and Jens Pulver, and drew 1.54 million viewers.

It is quite clear that the UFC has a brand recognition that the WEC currently doesn't posses. That being said we can't compare the recent WEC events to the UFC's debut as the dispute between Comcast and DirecTV was resolved the week before the UFC event. In other words we would have to compare date prior to WEC 43 to get a true comparison but even that is faulty as the data is now fairly old.

Here's what we know: The UFC can draw a million-plus viewers to Versus. That makes Versus happy and that makes the UFC happy. It also shows that the UFC brand is stronger than the WEC's and will once again call into question the smaller promotion's long-term viability. So, we're exactly where we thought we would be.

SBN coverage of UFC on Versus: Vera vs. Jones