On the heels of his beloved first fight with Leonard Garcia, Chang Sung “The Korean Zombie” Jung saw his momentum come to a screeching halt with a knockout loss to George Roop. The man who had the MMA world buzzing was, suddenly, just a regular guy in UFC’s featherweight division. UFC naturally moved towards...
So much for quality fights being a ticket to great numbers on FOX. Saturday’s UFC on FOX 3, which featured a low-profile main-event matchup between Nate Diaz and Jim Miller, garnered just a 1.0 adults 18-49 rating with 2.3 million viewers. There is a chance for a slight upward adjustment once the live west...
With his military background and exciting fighting style, Brian Stann is a natural candidate for representing UFC to the general public. And if he can survive the dangerous Hector Lombard on the fourth FOX show this August, he will use fighting ability to justify every ounce of that hype. But before that anticipated fight,...
UFC put an official exclamation point on rumors Tuesday, confirming that the anticipated rematch between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen has been moved to Las Vegas. Due to some issues with the planned Brazilian show, UFC has relocated its key Middleweight Championship fight, one of the most-anticipated fights on the company docket, to the...
The struggles facing UFC’s fifteenth season of “The Ultimate Fighter”–the first featuring the “Ultimate Fight Live” moniker–continued Friday. Friday’s installment of the mixed martial arts reality series, which jumped from Spike TV to FX for the current season, drew a mere 0.5 adults 18-49 rating and just 947,000 viewers. A series low point for...
In addition to fueling UFC’s breakout as a major sports brand, “The Ultimate Fighter” spent several years as a key ratings driver for Spike TV. Now that UFC is working with the FOX networks and Spike is partnered with Bellator FC, it is looking to pay another visit to the mixed martial arts reality...
Any inclination to blame last week’s disappointing “The Ultimate Fighter Live” premiere ratings on the overly-lengthy collection of fights involving “no-name fighters” went out the window this week. Episode two, which did not follow the “fight to get into the house” model, dipped to an even more alarming viewership total, managing an average of...
From a viewership standpoint, the move to FX and Friday nights has thus far not proven fruitful for UFC. After a pair of live “Fight Night” cards drew very disappointing numbers on the new night and network, Friday’s premiere of “The Ultimate Fighter” also failed to make a splash. The episode drew just 1.28...
The combination of Ben Henderson’s UFC Lightweight Championship victory over Frankie Edgar and Anthony Pettis’ crushing win over Joe Lauzon seemed to set the wheels in motion for a rematch of one of MMA’s all-time classic bouts. There was just one thing standing in the way: Frankie Edgar. Having personally given BJ Penn an...
UFC President Dana White issued a brief response regarding news of UFC 143 main-eventer Nick Diaz’s test failure for marijuana metabolites. “I am beyond disappointed that he tested positive for marijuana,” said White. “It is now in the hands of the Nevada State Athletic Commission.”
The Nevada State Athletic Commission confirmed Thursday that Nick Diaz failed his UFC 143 drug test. The fighter, who lost to Carlos Condit in the show’s main event, tested positive for marijuana metabolites. With a suspension likely, he will not have the opportunity to face Carlos Condit in an Interim Welterweight Championship rematch that...
Amid all the rumors and speculation that Nick Diaz’s rumored inability to fight in the planned rematch with Carlos Condit is commission-related, Nevada State Athletic Commission director Keith Kizer confirmed that at least one UFC 143 fighter failed his drug test. “I am still waiting for all the steroid and drug test results to...
Less than 24 hours after reports broke concerning a confirmed Carlos Condit vs. Nick Diaz rematch comes a story saying the match is off. According to @FrontRowBrian, who has scooped a number of key mixed martial arts stories recently, “An issue arose from Nick’s camp last night. Nick will NOT be able to compete.”...
At last weekend’s UFC on FOX, the leading mixed martial arts promotion lucked out with both key bouts–Chael Sonnen vs. Michael Bisping and Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis–ending in favor of the more-marketable title challenger. That luck was not present at UFC 143. Ahead of the show, a potential Georges St. Pierre vs. Nick...
FOX released updated overnight ratings Monday afternoon, confirming that the show’s household audience declined by 22%. Adults 18-49 data and viewership totals were not yet available, but the show managed a 2.7 overnight household rating, down from a 3.5 for the November fight between Junior dos Santos and Cain Velasquez. FOX attributed the decline...
Without a Heavyweight Championship fight and without quite as much fanfare as the debut in November, Saturday’s UFC on FOX had accumulated its fair share of pessimism regarding the rating. When all was said and done, the first show ended up doing well, but not spectacularly well. Without the special novelty, was this quarter’s...
UFC President Dana White confirmed Tuesday that Chael Sonnen, the company’s king of trash-talking, has a new opponent for the upcoming UFC on FOX event. And it is one with a loud mouth of his own. With Sonnen’s originally-scheduled opponent Mark Munoz out due to injury, Michael Bisping will step in for the match...
The Nevada State Athletic Commission announced Tuesday that Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal tested positive for an anabolic steroid at the January 7 Strikeforce show. Lawal, who tested positive for Drostanolone, was the only fighter to fail his drug test at the event, which was headlined by Keith Jardine vs. Luke Rockhold. The fighter is...
Though the Strikeforce brand has not made any specific, official announcement, if UFC’s President Dana White is to be believed, Cris “Cyborg” Santos will be stripped of her championship after testing positive for an anabolic steroid. “She’s getting stripped of the belt,” said White on ESPN’s “MMA Insiders” radio show. The California...
When Brock Lesnar retired from UFC Saturday night, he did so while still under contract with the dominant mixed martial arts organization. Technically, that means he is under the same restrictions he was Friday, and is unable to simply jump over to WWE. At the same time, if he is not going to actively...
