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[Sakara=Excitement]

- KIMBO VS. ALEXANDER TIPS 6 MILLION WITH PLAYBACK- MMA WEEKLY - Mixed Martial Arts & UFC News, Photos, Rankings & more

There's no denying it: Kimbo Slice sells.

Spike TV’s David Schwarz on Monday informed MMAWeekly.com that Nielsen numbers are in for The Ultimate Fighter finale. The Nielsen totals, which includes the live telecast and adds in all replays for the following seven days, pushed the average number of viewers for the Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson versus Houston Alexander fight up from 5.2 million for the live telecast to 6 million total.

The season 10 finale averaged 3.7 million viewers over the course of the three-hour live telecast, and 4.2 million with the seven-day replay window.

Even minus the replay viewership, the ratings were strong enough to make the Kimbo versus Alexander fight the most watched UFC bout of 2009, the finale the most watched final episode in Ultimate Fighter history, and shattered the series’ average viewership.

The previous nine seasons of the series averaged two million viewers per episode. Season 10 averaged 3.5 million, according to Spike TV, which was bolstered by the episode featuring Kimbo versus eventual season winner Roy Nelson. Their episode drew an average of 5.3 million viewers, including 6.1 million that tuned in during the time of their fight.

Both of Kimbo’s fights this season are firmly notched amongst the top ten most watched non-pay-per-view fights in mixed martial arts history in the United States, as are his two bouts for EliteXC on CBS.

[roaddawg]

Fans like fighters who go in balls out. With Kimbo youre guranteed action atleast from his side. Unfortunately it takes two to tango.

rd

[Lok Bresnar]

That fight might've done more harm than good. So many people tuned in and you had one of the worst fights of 2009. I don't think Kimbo is going to remain this big draw for much longer. People are still gullible and are still enamoured with his street fighting vids. They'll come to their senses eventually. Kimbo is overrated highly.

[pa99ortiz]

6 million, those are some pretty damn good numbers. I think Kimbo has really gained Dana's respect proving that he's a fighter. Being a contender is another story though.

[Lok Bresnar]

Originally Posted by pa99ortiz

6 million, those are some pretty damn good numbers. I think Kimbo has really gained Dana's respect proving that he's a fighter. Being a contender is another story though.

As soon as Kimbo leaves, it'll be back to "Kimbo f*ckin' sucks, he never had any skills, he belongs on the streets fighting those neighbourhood jocks for breadcrumbs!"

[Stacked]

Originally Posted by Lok Bresnar

As soon as Kimbo leaves, it'll be back to "Kimbo f*ckin' sucks, he never had any skills, he belongs on the streets fighting those neighbourhood jocks for breadcrumbs!"

What makes you think he's leaving?

We all agree he wont be a contender but he does like to bang and fans love that. He's a huge draw as you can tell.

Have him on a ppv with Lesnar or Penn or Liddell or Tito or Forrest and you're gonna make huge. This is a business and Dana will keep him around till the money quits flowing. I wanna see him vs Irvin

[Casavant]

Completely agree with Stacked. To further elaborate (i'm sure you'll agree, my bad if you don't), everyone knows who Kimbo is, he was famous before mma. Elite XC put a bad taste in alot of the hardcore fans mouths because they promoted him like an elite main event fighter. Which even by his own admission he is not. If the UFC and Dana are smart, which in my opinion they are. (Dana gets way too much unnecessary hate thrown his way) All they have to do is put him on a card and it's guaranteed extra buys, but they won't promote him like he's the shit. Look at his fight with Alexander, who is nowhere near the top 10. They didn't promote like it was a contender fight, just that it "should've" been a good war. Unless Kimbo actually becomes a great fighter all they have to do is set up good fights against somewhat known opponents (fighters that would be on the undercard in any other fight) and he will make himself, the UFC, and all the fighters on the card extra money. They're never actually gonna give him a fight against a contender until he's at that level. The sooner the hardcore fans understand that he's not taking anyones spot and it's more like one of Pride/Dream's "freakshow" fights, the sooner they'll be able to enjoy his fights just as the "casual" fan does. He's the UFC's Bob Sapp (when he first started) no one expects him to win the belt but people do like to watch him fight. Sorry for the long post, i'll try to condense in the future.

[deathloc]

6 million? wow just wow. and that fight aired on spike not abc nbc fox or cbs lol.

it wasnt the most pleasant fight but i think people that isnt living in wonderland know the reason behind that and its plain and simple houston alexander pulled a partial kalib starnes which he also did in his previous fight that wasnt in ufc. kimbo was there to fight and really showed he had improved. not saying hes a contender nor the next big thing in mma nor the next fedor and hate him all you want but the bottom line is that the man draws and i believe he will continue to draw. this good for both parties that being kimbo and ufc just hopefully his next opponent havent been training with kalib starnes is all.

[MrCruise]

Originally Posted by Stacked

What makes you think he's leaving?

We all agree he wont be a contender but he does like to bang and fans love that. He's a huge draw as you can tell.

Have him on a ppv with Lesnar or Penn or Liddell or Tito or Forrest and you're gonna make huge. This is a business and Dana will keep him around till the money quits flowing. I wanna see him vs Irvin

Right on. Irvin would be a great match-up, if Kimbo wants to cut that much weight again. Not sure if Kimbo would want someone like Kongo at some point. Keep him away from Big Nog, Mir and guys of that caliber with excellent ground games and Kimbo should always put on a show.

[Dsm634]

Originally Posted by MrCruise

Right on. Irvin would be a great match-up, if Kimbo wants to cut that much weight again. Not sure if Kimbo would want someone like Kongo at some point. Keep him away from Big Nog, Mir and guys of that caliber with excellent ground games and Kimbo should always put on a show.

Pretty much. Kimbo will always put on a show, but he's not right for LHW. Dude needs to stick with what works for him. NTM he doesn't have the hand speed for 205ers.