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UFC knocks out Strikeforce in the ratings
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UFC President Dana White
When Spike TV first announced that the UFC would be counter-programming Strikeforce with a rerun of UFC 100 last Saturday, I described the maneuver as a probing jab to test the strength of Strikeforce's fan base.
Well, it turns out jab hit the glass jawed Strikeforce dead on and knocked the Carano versus Cyborg card out. According to a report from MMA Junkie, UFC 100 as a rerun nabbed over three times the amount of viewers than Strikeforce's live main event.
Some have credited Strikeforce's beating in the ratings with the fact that Spike TV is a basic cable channel where Showtime, which aired the Strikeforce card, is a premium channel. This explanation certainly fits with UFC president Dana White's prediction a week prior that “like, four people watch Showtime.”
Strikeforce also has a network TV deal with ABC, which, if it is simply an issue of channel subscribers, may greatly benefit Strikeforce's future events. However, now that the UFC is aware that their counter programming strategy can muscle Strikeforce the way it did the now deceased Affliction, the real fight may just be starting.
The UFC will be airing UFC 102 at the end of the month, featuring a bout between solid Pay Per View draws Randy Couture and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. In all likelihood, the UFC will emerge the undisputed champion of the summer.
Strikeforce will be pulling out their trump card in a bout featuring consensus number one heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko some time this fall. However, Fedor's drawing power in the US may be lack luster for the amount that they paid for him, and Strikeforce doesn't look very good coming into the next round against the UFC.
Strikeforce's Fedor commercial spot:
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