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‘UFC on FOX 5? Ratings Update: Henderson vs. Diaz Was the Ninth Most Watched MMA Fight of All Time in the U.S.; Kimbo Still Reigns Supreme

(Well, you can’t say he didn’t warn you. / Photo courtesy of Getty Images. Click for full-size version.)

According to a Yahoo! Sports report, Saturday’s UFC on FOX 5 broadcast averaged 4.4 million viewers, with viewership climbing steadily through the night until it peaked at a hearty 5.7 million sets of eyeballs for the main event of Benson Henderson vs. Nate Diaz.

Although total viewership still fell short of the first two UFC on FOX offerings, the 4.4 million average for “Henderson vs. Diaz” nearly doubled the audiences of the last two FOX broadcasts, which both averaged just 2.4 million viewers apiece. More importantly, “Henderson vs. Diaz” was television’s most-watched broadcast on Saturday night among males 18-34, males 18-49, adults 18-34, and adults 18-49. As Dana White told Yahoo!: “We just killed it. We killed it in every demo.”

The ratings performance was also enough to clinch Henderson vs. Diaz as the ninth most-watched MMA fight of all time in the United States. Four years ago, the top ten list was dominated by Kimbo Slice — and not much has changed since then. Here’s Dave Meltzer with an update on MMAFighting.com (number rankings added for clarity):

(Well, you can’t say he didn’t warn you. / Photo courtesy of Getty Images. Click for full-size version.)

“The 5.7 million viewers drawn by the main event would rank it behind only five UFC fights in history: [#1] the record-breaking Cain Velasquez vs. Junior Dos Santos fight on November 12, 2001, which did 9.6 million viewers between FOX and Fox Deportes; [#3] the Oct. 10, 2006, Ken Shamrock vs. Tito Ortiz fight on Spike, which did 6.5 million viewers; [#5] the Jan. 28, 2012, Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis fight on FOX and Fox Deportes, that did 6.4 million viewers; [#6] the Sept. 30, 2009, taped fight on the Ultimate Fighter reality show with Kimbo Slice vs. Roy Nelson, which did 6.1 million viewers on Spike; and [#8] the Sept. 8, 2007, taped fight from England pitting Dan Henderson vs. Rampage Jackson for the light heavyweight title, which did 5.8 million viewers on Spike.

The only other fights it trailed were Kimbo Slice fights on CBS with James Thompson [#2: 7.281 million viewers] and Seth Petruzelli [#4: 6.451 million viewers], and the first Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith fight [#7: 5.867 million viewers], which aired before Slice vs. Thompson on the first Elite XC show on CBS in 2008.

However, if you add in Spanish language viewership in the U.S. on Fox Deportes, numbers which are not available at press time, the total audience should top 6 million and move to either the No. 6 or No. 7 slot.”

In the past, Henderson has underperformed as a pay-per-view draw, but a brilliant fight against Diaz in front of a massive network audience might change all that. Can Bendo become the UFC’s next breakout star?

UFC on FOX 5 Medical Suspensions: Several Indefinite Suspensions Handed Down

Nate Diaz was late getting to the UFC on Fox 5 press conference on Saturday night. When he did take his seat, one could guess that his delayed entrance was necessitated by the fact that his right eye was a mess and obviously needed some medical attenti…

BJ Penn, who received a thrashing at the hands of Rory MacDonald, was not as lucky; he was shipped off to a local hospital for examination.

That’s not to say that only those fighters that were vanquished on Saturday night in Seattle needed post-fight medical care. No, even some of the victors faced potentially lengthy medical suspensions following the UFC on FOX 5 fight card. For instance, light heavyweight contender Alexander Gustafsson faced up to six months off, far more than the man he defeated, Mauricio Rua, who only received a 30-day suspension.

The full list of medical suspensions are listed below for the UFC on FOX 5 fight card:

Benson Henderson was suspended for seven days.

Nate Diaz was suspended indefinitely until cleared by a doctor. He is suspended for a minimum of 45 days, 30 days with no contact. Original suspension can be extended to 60 days.

Alexander Gustafsson was handed an indefinite medical suspension until cleared by doctor or 180 days suspension, with a minimum of 30 days.

Mauricio Rua was suspended for 30 days

Rory MacDonald was suspended for seven days.

B.J. Penn was given an indefinite medical suspension until cleared by doctor with a minimum of 45 days, with 30 days without contact.

Matt Brown was suspended for seven days.

Mike Swick was suspended for 60 days.

Yves Edwards was suspended for 30 days, 21 days with no contact.

Jeremy Stephens was given an indefinite medical suspension until cleared by doctor with a minimum suspension of 60 days.

Raphael Assuncao was given an indefinite medical suspension until cleared by orthopedic surgeon, with a minimum suspension of seven days.

Mike Easton was suspended for seven days.

Ramsey Nijem was given an indefinite medical suspension until cleared by doctor, with a minimum of 30 days.

Joe Proctor was given an indefinite medical suspension with no contact until cleared by a doctor, minimum suspension of 60 days.

Daron Cruickshank was suspended for seven days.

Henry Martinez was given an indefinite medical suspension until cleared by doctor, with a minimum suspension of 60 days.

Abel Trujillo was suspended for seven days.

Marcus LeVesseur was suspended for 30 days.

Dennis Siver was suspended for seven days.

Nam Phan was given an indefinite medical suspension until cleared by doctor, with a minimum suspension of 45 days, with 30 days no contact.

Scott Jorgensen was suspended for seven days.

John Albert was suspended for seven days.

Suspensions via MMAFighting.com

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Rory MacDonald Just Turned Heel Against BJ Penn at UFC on Fox 5

Saturday night we witnessed another case of a proud old lion in BJ Penn being overtaken by a young, up-and-coming lion in Rory MacDonald. Actually, not just a younger lion, but a younger, bigger, stronger, faster, and quite possibly a more well-n…

A young lion who evidently enjoyed doing the Ali shuffle in the face of an all-time great, which in turn ignited quite the boo-storm in the arena. As this all unfolded, I asked myself, did we just witness Rory MacDonald go heel?

As far as the action in the fight, Saturday night went as most folks expected. While some folks hoped a motivated BJ would be too much for the less experienced MacDonald, that was just nostalgia talking.

From the opening bell, MacDonald dominated Penn in what was very close to a flawless performance as MacDonald continues to earn the respect of fans and the rest of the welterweight division. While Rory looked more comfortable on the feet than ever, Penn never looked like much of a threat, and as with recent fallen greats like Chuck Liddell and Fedor Emelianenko, it can be tough to watch a once-proud lion take a beating.

But even if the face of three rounds of consistent and ruthless punishment, Penn would not be finished, and could walk out of the Octagon with his head held high, knowing that he always stepped up and went toe to toe with bigger foes, never playing a points game, never bathing in Vaseline between rounds, and always looking to finish.

Moving up in weight to battle Georges St Pierre and Lyoto Machida illustrated that BJ Penn would never back down, never talked catch-weight, and always fought with the spirit of a warrior. Even ‘brawler’ Nick Diaz took to cage leaning to tire out Penn before turning their fight into a one-sided affair on the feet.

Penn truly is a fighter’s fighter, and for the reasons listed above, BJ Penn will retire a legend with the utmost respect, and the all time Pound for Pound fighter in my book.

That brings us to MacDonald. Even in the midst of watching Rory impressively dismantle a legend, there were a great many boos raining down when he was shuffling his feet, dropping his hands, and otherwise illustrating the lengths to which he was manhandling The Prodigy.

Although at the post-fight presser he said he meant no disrespect to Penn, it can be tough for some to see it that way. Many folks thought it was a move to make a fighter who has been accused of being a bit reserved seem more unpredictable and zany.

Others thought it may have been rooted in a feeling of resentment at Penn’s insinuation that MacDonald was on illegal performance enhancers and Penn’s insistence on blood tests leading up to the fight. McDonald said it was more a way to get Penn off-balance.

I wonder if there’s a bit of all three in there. It’s not as if he was having trouble connecting on Penn before doing the showboating bits. But even if he meant no disrespect, he could not be oblivious to how it looks.

When Bigfoot Silva defeated Fedor Emlienanko, he burst into tears and spoke of the dream it was to defeat such a legend. When MacDonald defeated Penn, he repeatedly did the Ali Shuffle, and that’s an image that fans could have a tough time forgetting.

Time will tell if MacDonald heads further down that path or if it was all a big misunderstanding. One thing is for certain. The guy is a hell of a fighter and if he keeps dominating folks and improving his game, he may one day live to be destroyed and humiliated by a young lion. And it’s quite likely no one will boo.

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UFC on FOX 5 Nets 4.4 Million Viewers, Big Improvement Over Last Two Events

Ratings are always a tricky business, but it seems like the UFC might have finally figured out a few key methods for their Fox events.MMA Junkie reports that UFC on FOX 5 drew an average of 4.4 million viewers during its broadcast, which is a notable j…

Ratings are always a tricky business, but it seems like the UFC might have finally figured out a few key methods for their Fox events.

MMA Junkie reports that UFC on FOX 5 drew an average of 4.4 million viewers during its broadcast, which is a notable jump from the two previous UFC on FOX cards that aired this year.

Overall, it’s the third-most successful out of the five so far, with the current record-holder still being the UFC’s inaugural FOX event that featured a single title fight between then-heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos.

With that in mind, here’s a look at the average viewership for all five events so far:

• UFC on FOX 1 (Velasquez vs. dos Santos): 5.7 million
• UFC on FOX 2 (Evans vs. Davis): 4.7 million
• UFC on FOX 3 (Diaz vs. Miller): 2.4 million
• UFC on FOX 4 (Rua vs. Vera): 2.4 million
• UFC on FOX 5 (Henderson vs. Diaz): 4.4 million

Notably, this past Saturday’s card was the first one to host a title fight since UFC on FOX 1, which likely helped boost its relevancy to television viewers. Overall, the UFC placed third in primetime ratings for the 18-34 male demographic, behind “The Simpsons” and Sunday night’s NFL game.

It also didn’t hurt that combat sports was the general theme of that weekend, with the UFC card preceding HBO’s highly-anticipated boxing match between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez.

It’s not the first time that the UFC has played the lead-in to a Pacquiao bout, as UFC on FOX 1 did the same thing before Pacquiao and Marquez’s third fight on November 11th last year.

UFC Lightweight Champion Ben Henderson successfully defended his title against Nate Diaz en route to a one-sided unanimous decision victory on Saturday, marking his second successful title defense.

Other main card action saw Swedish contenter Alexander Gustafsson defeat former light heavyweight champion Mauricio Rua, while surging Canadian fighter Rory MacDonald effectively retired former two-division UFC champion BJ Penn.

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Carlos Condit’s Manager Says They’re Up for Rory MacDonald Rematch, Suggests Neutral Territory

(Photo via CombatLifestyle.)

Following Rory MacDonald‘s three-round assault of BJ Penn at UFC on FOX 5, the 23-year-old welterweight contender made it clear that he wanted a rematch with Carlos Condit, who previously TKO’d him with seven seconds remaining in a fight that MacDonald might have won on points. (You can revisit MacDonald’s darkest moment right here.) As Rory told Ariel Helwani on Fuel TV, “I was humiliated and embarrassed after that fight, and I think about that fight all the time, it haunts me, and I really need to get past that chapter in my life. My challenge is out there, it’s up to Carlos to accept my challenge…he’s coming off a loss, he’s gotta fight somebody, it might as well be me.”

Makes sense to us. But does it make sense to Condit? According to his manager Malki Kawa, hell yes. “Carlos Condit doesn’t back down from any man,” Kawa told MMAWeekly. “If the UFC asks us to fight Rory MacDonald, Carlos will take the fight.”

(Photo via CombatLifestyle.)

There is one point of contention, however — the venue where the fight would take place. Though their first bout took place at UFC 115 in Vancouver, MacDonald mentioned during his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan on Saturday that he’d like the rematch to take place in his home-base of Montreal. As you can imagine, that’s not an ideal scenario for the Condit camp; Kawa counter-proposed that the rematch happen in Las Vegas — neutral territory, though much closer to Condit’s home in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

So how would a Condit vs. MacDonald rematch go down in 2013? MacDonald clearly has the firepower to give Condit a bad night — and maybe he’s gained the poise and maturity since their first meeting to avoid another ill-timed implosion.

BJ Penn: Why Lightweight Is No Longer a Viable Option for "The Prodigy"

Although BJ Penn has steered clear of the media since he was shellacked by the unnervingly glacial Rory MacDonald at UFC on Fox 5, Saturday night’s postmortem has centred on the possibility that “The Prodigy” is on his way to permanen…

The debate as to whether the former two-division champion should go down this route has been mostly one-sided, yet it remains unresolved largely due to a vocal minority.

On the MMA Hour, earlier tonight, Ariel Helwani and Eric Jackman suggested that they would like to see Penn drop back down to lightweight—with the latter even stating that he wouldn’t be opposed to the Hawaiian sticking around at welterweight.

While I can’t defend the notion that Penn should hang around as a gatekeeper at 170 pounds, one can understand the desire to see him once again compete at his natural weight.

At the age of 33, it will be a while before “The Prodigy” picks up his pension, and while he may be past his prime, he is hardly in the same boat as the Ken Shamrocks of this world.

It was only last year that he fought to a draw with the then No. 2 welterweight on the planet, Jon Fitch. He was perhaps on his way to winning that contest until, not unexpectedly, he gassed out in the final frame.

So, the argument that Penn could compete at the top of the lightweight division is not without merit.

However, I suspect that the proponents of the aforementioned argument would be quickly disabused of this notion if Penn were to drop down to 155 pounds and face a top contender.

The reason for this is simple.

BJ Penn’s last two fights have shown that the size difference played only a minor role in the beatings handed out to him by Nick Diaz and MacDonald.

Despite what the Hawaiian’s more rabid fans might think, he was not out-muscled or worn down by his much larger foes.

One could even argue that neither Diaz nor MacDonald took full advantage of the physical handicap, since both bouts were fought almost exclusively at striking range.

The second point is that, at least on Saturday, Penn looked to have a lot more in the tank towards the end of the fight than anyone could have anticipated.

He almost sprinted to the centre of the cage at the start of all three rounds, and generally looked much fresher than he had against Diaz or Fitch.

No, it wasn’t size nor cardio that slayed him. It was indeed beauty that felled “The Prodigy,” albeit in the form of MacDonald’s violent, visually poetic combinations.

Put more simply, BJ Penn was outclassed by a much better mixed martial artist. The result would have been the same had Rory been four inches shorter and three inches narrower.

In a qualitative, if not quantitative, sense, the sport has reached new heights over the last couple of years. The calibre of mixed martial artist that now competes inside the Octagon is on a different level than anything we have seen before.

Freddie Roach once described BJ Penn as the best boxer in MMA, but “The Prodigy’s” recent outings have served to demonstrate the limitations of a purely boxing-centred approach.

Similarly, his once-peerless ground game no longer appears novel when compared to the submission artistry of Demian Maia or Rousimar Palhares.

In addition to the sport’s continued evolution, Penn’s skills have undoubtedly declined to a degree.

While I don’t subscribe to the view that they have dropped off the figurative cliff, it seems clear that he is slower, less explosive and his reflexes have been blunted to the point of debilitation.

I remain open to the possibility that I am wrong about BJ Penn’s prospects in the modern MMA world, but current evidence suggests that it is time for him to hang up the gloves and preserve the legacy he has fought so hard to build.

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