Overnight ratings for Fedor vs Rogers, no Main Event rating yet

[Mogriffjr]

Wasn't CBS overhyping the hell out of Kimbo though?

Fedor >> kimbo is so many ways it's not even funny and I'm not a MMA follower like that yet lol...I expect this sport to continue to do well...hopefully i can see more shows on CBS.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Yeah, Kimbo was pushed much harder by EliteXC/CBS than Fedor was pushed by Strikeforce/CBS. The lack of hype pumped out for this fight was astounding, BUT...with that said...

EliteXC was bleeding red and going for broke, while Strikeforce has a business model that actually makes money. That has something to do with it.

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

Maybe Im not thinking hard enough but I dont think theres been any athlete in any sport reach A class fame and status while needing an interpreter.
Even Roberto Clemente spoke broken english.

MMA will always have a hard time pushing there stars unless they decide to learn english well enough to talk shit or be witty in an interview.

How do you push a guy with no highlights ? Not like Fedor was willing to get video taped lifting pallets of hay and beating up on Beef racks.
They gave it a good push at the end. Hopefully word of mouth brought up ratings for the M.E.

[EmpireWF]

Anderson Silva by himself is not a huge PPV draw, despite arguably being the best fighter under Zuffa contract.

It's the nature of the beast.

Strikeforce is great at what it does, but they are never going to do MONSTER business because it's incredibly difficult to create new stars when you don't have consistent TV.

[Liquidrob]

Strikeforce might run 20 shows next year, most will be Challengers, but it probably will be 4 CBS and 4 Showtime Main Events in a year, thats 8 shows quality shows and 4 Free ones is very good to build up stars

They already have a big show in December on Showtime and if Overeem got a heads up there might be a CBS fight in Arpil, Fedor could fight twice next year on CBS if everything works out and there is no injurys, etc...

Not saying Fedor or anyone in Strikeforce will reach mega sports status, but Fedor will be one of the bigger stars in MMA (to casual fans) if he keeps winning on CBS, most of the UFC champs are not even 'big' sports stars, only Brock and GSP at this point, Kimbo is actually bigger at this point and thats pretty damn crappy

One more CBS fight and win with Fedor put him right up there with those guys IMO, more than likely they will hype the shit out of it and blow away this rating which turned out pretty damn good for what they put behind it

Also, Showtime has a chance of getting the boxing fan to crossover with having boxing and MMA on there network and not taking shots at them, Al Bernstein just did the commentary on the Friday Challenger show

[Liquidrob]

Maybe Im not thinking hard enough but I dont think theres been any athlete in any sport reach A class fame and status while needing an interpreter.
Even Roberto Clemente spoke broken english.

MMA will always have a hard time pushing there stars unless they decide to learn english well enough to talk shit or be witty in an interview.

How do you push a guy with no highlights ? Not like Fedor was willing to get video taped lifting pallets of hay and beating up on Beef racks.
They gave it a good push at the end. Hopefully word of mouth brought up ratings for the M.E.

true about not speaking english, but like you have said lately, Chuck never says anything interesting and he was huge

Chuck actually hurts himself when he speaks in public and hitting the nyquil before interviews

Exciting HWs dont come around often, when was the last time boxing had an exciting, dominant HW? Tyson and Holyfield are about it

[EmpireWF]

I sorta get what you're saying, but I don't think there is a shot that Fedor will be able to be compared to Brock and GSP as serious draws.

Drawing a decent TV rating is different than being able to draw monster PPV numbers.

Off the top of my head, and we've had some great cards this year, this month may be the best of the year between StrikeForce on CBS and the pair of showtime cards, WEC, and a pair of UFC cards.


June
Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields
ShoMMA 2: Villasenor vs. Cyborg
UFC 99
TUF 9 Finale (Sanchez vs. Guida)
WEC 41: Brown vs. Faber 2

August
Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg
UFC 101
UFC 102
WEC 42: Torres vs. Bowles

[Warner2BruceTD]

Maybe Im not thinking hard enough but I dont think theres been any athlete in any sport reach A class fame and status while needing an interpreter.
Even Roberto Clemente spoke broken english.

MMA will always have a hard time pushing there stars unless they decide to learn english well enough to talk shit or be witty in an interview.

How do you push a guy with no highlights ? Not like Fedor was willing to get video taped lifting pallets of hay and beating up on Beef racks.
They gave it a good push at the end. Hopefully word of mouth brought up ratings for the M.E.

Roberto Duran?

There have been others in boxing who are A-List boxing stars, although not A-List mainstream stars.

But yeah, it's a huge roadblock, and it took the great Anderson Silva years to establish himself as a draw, despite being a great fighter and having good natural charisma.

I think the fight Saturday went a long way to establishing Fedor. The non-english actually works in his favor IMO, and adds to his mystique.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Strikeforce is great at what it does, but they are never going to do MONSTER business because it's incredibly difficult to create new stars when you don't have consistent TV.

Like rob noted, they are running 20+ shows next year. That's practically bi-weekly TV, and the four on CBS will be seen by more eyeballs than probably anything UFC does (unless Kimbo draws a monster on Spike vs somebody like Tito or Chuck, but you would think a big name Kimbo fight is something they will make people pay for).

No TV hurt (and helped kill) Affliction, bad (low visibility) TV hurt PRIDE. I think Strikeforce has strong TV, and they make good business decisions. They'll be ok in this regard, the question for 2010, 2011, 2012, is can they transition to PPV at some point and really challenge Zuffa?

[EmpireWF]

Rob did mention the majority of the shows may be Challengers. Of regular Showtime and CBS shows, if they run 8, they have to make sure they get guys over in the time available.

I still think Strikeforce shouldn't be worried about competing with Zuffa because if they do, they will likely lose. Strikeforce is great at what they are and I hope they don't go to PPV too early. Their people are smart though and they've been in business for over a decade so they have my approval. ;)

[Liquidrob]

I sorta get what you're saying, but I don't think there is a shot that Fedor will be able to be compared to Brock and GSP as serious draws.

Drawing a decent TV rating is different than being able to draw monster PPV numbers.

there is no such thing as a MMA draw, the only draw is when a popular fighter is paired with the UFC hype machine

Brock without the UFC is not a PPV draw, GSP without the UFC is not a PPV draw, etc...

No MMA fighter can draw a good PPV number without the UFC

[Liquidrob]

Ratings should be in tomorrow with the main event, also I read that the rating that has been posted early does not include the west coast, is that accurate? I never heard that before, maybe that was just someone making shit up

[Warner2BruceTD]

Ratings should be in tomorrow with the main event, also I read that the rating that has been posted early does not include the west coast, is that accurate? I never heard that before, maybe that was just someone making shit up

It's pretty common for overights to not include the west coast. Usually makes little difference in the rating, only total viewers, which they estimate anyway and usually come close enough to trust.

Main event did either a 3.3 or 3.5 (can't remember) when the final numbers came in. Not sure if anyone posted that. Big success IMO.