They really did do a shit job in promoting the show on Versus. Then again, it's not like they have TUF on to constantly berate a million+ viewers with ads.
No doubt Spike is engrained as the spot for MMA. When UFC leaves, they'll have to hope people follow the name.
If I'm Spike and Bellator is a legit option to replace UFC, I get a deal done ASAP so that immediately after UFC is off the network, you put Bellator in to get the viewers who don't know about the switch.
The problem, is nobody watches TUF anymore except for the hardest of hardcore UFC geeks, so Versus wont get that automatic bum from that.
Look, they will make it work. They can give away a PPV caliber fight for free that would have done big PPV business when they make switch. Lesnar would be perfect for this, because he is clearly on the decline, and you can feed him to a good young fighter.
The other factor, is Versus will be changing to "NBC Sports" or whatever name they come up with, and there will be a huge media push which will heavily feature UFC. UFC is not leaving Spike for low powered 6/29/11 Versus, they would be leaving for a high powered NBC network looking to challenge ESPN. Big difference.
But with that said, people will still view Spike as an MMA channel, so there is a window of opportunity for whoever steps in to take advantage. Zuffa will probably find a way to get SF on there, because I cant imagine they are happy with Showtime. That means M-1 will get a higher profile when Showtime loses SF.
Zuffa buying SF, combined with these dominos falling, actually opens up room for more orgs to compete. Imagine that.