It seems that a record number of fans tuned in for the Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva event Saturday night, as the promotion recorded its highest viewer ratings on Showtime since they began airing events with the network back in April 2009.
Saturdays show averaged 741,000 viewers during the evening and peaked at 1.1 million with the tournament quarterfinal bout between Fedor Emelianenko vs. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva.
Overall, this is great news for the promotion, who scored their second highest viewer ratings with their last event, Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg last month which averaged 561,000 and peaked at 853,000.
It shows that the promotion is improving it’s standing with regular fans who are tuning in to watch more events. The bigger numbers could help change the mind of CBS execs who might offer Strikeforce another shot at National television after the disastrous post-brawl at the Strikeforce: Nashville event in April 2010.
A list of the top five viewer numbers for past Strikeforce events (props BloodyElbow.com):
• 741,000 viewers, Strikeforce: Fedor vs Silva (Feb 2011)
• 561,000 viewers, Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg (Jan 2011)
• 517,000 viewers, Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Zaromskis (Jan 2010)
• 412,000 viewers, Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum (Jun 2010)
• 367,000 viewers, Strikeforce: Lawal vs. Cavalcante (Aug 2010)
Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva took place on Feb. 12 at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The preliminary card aired live on HDNet, with the main card airing on Showtime.
HT: MMAjunkie.com