UFC NEWS: UFC 122 "Marquardt vs. Okami" draws 2.2 million viewers to Spike TV

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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UFC 122 may not have been a great event for the UFC overall, but the event outperformed last month's UFC 120 event in the ratings for Spike TV.

UFC 120 last month brought 1.9 million viewers for the card from London, headlined by the middleweight bout between Michael Bisping and Yoshihiro Akiyama. That card aired in an earlier timeslot against tough competition from Major League Baseball and college football, and saw a one million viewer drop from the last major tape delayed event on Spike in UFC 105.

Saturday's UFC 122 broadcast was up against the Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito boxing bout on pay-per-view and college football as well, but saw an increase of 300,000 viewers for the Spike TV broadcast, bringing in 2.2 million on average.

The show drew a 2.16 in the M18-34 demographic, as well as a 1.4 household rating.

Penick's Analysis: It was still down from a lot of previous numbered UFC events on Spike TV, but it still did a lot better than I think was expected from the card, which was considered to be the weakest lineup for a numbered event in a very long time. 120 had tougher competition from other sports, as there probably wasn't a ton of crossover for the boxing pay-per-view, at least not as much as there was with the World Series and the Ohio State-Wisconsin college football game last month. So in some ways, the numbers make sense, but it doesn't make it any less surprising that this card did as well as it did with how poor the card was in and of itself.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_7544.shtml

Kestutis Smirnovas Jimmy Smith Maurice Mo Smith Patrick Smith

Ross Pearson vs Spencer Fisher taking shape at UFC 127

An additional bout has been added to the next Australia card. The event is said to take place at the Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia on Feb. 27. The main event of the evening, though not officially announced, is understood to be former champion BJ Penn taking on perennial contender Jon Fitch in a welterweight clash. [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/11/25/ross-pearson-vs-spencer-fisher-taking-shape-at-ufc-127

Rey Phillip Santos Bob Sapp Rumina Sato Kerry Schall

WEC 52 and UFC 122's Three Stars: Faber, Benavidez and Siver

Last week featured a ton of free (for the price of cable) MMA, and while WEC 52 was reliably fantastic, UFC 122 was not the best collection of fights. Still, both cards featured fighters who were a step above.

No. 1 star -- Urijah Faber: It turns out the new Faber is the same as the old Faber. In his debut at bantamweight, the former featherweight champ submitted Takeya Mizugaki, a fighter who had only lost by a stoppage once before in his career. 

No. 2 star -- Joseph Benavidez: Faber's teammate and training partner had his own big win. He had to try three times, but finally, Benavidez was able to submit one of MMA's best jiu-jitsu players, Wagnney Fabiano, with a guillotine.

No. 3 star -- Dennis Siver: Fighting in front of his home crowd at UFC 122 in Germany, Siver delivered. He dominated "The Ultimate Fighter" star Andre Winner, and ended the bout with a beautiful rear-naked choke. He earned a $60,000 Submission of the Night bonus for his work.

Honorable mention -- Demetrious Johnson: "Mighty Mouse" executed a perfect game plan for beating Damacio Page, a fighter who won his last two fights by highlight-reel KOs. Johnson moved well, cut angles and used takedowns to avoid Page's lethal punches, then won with a guillotine. Thought he would be perfect for a flyweight division, Johnson has staked a claim on bantamweights, as well.

Who are your stars from the extended MMA weekend?

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/WEC-52-and-UFC-122-s-Three-Stars-Faber-Benavid?urn=mma-285466

Vitor Belfort Randy Couture Chuck Liddell Quinton Jackson

Kenny Florian Talks Dana White Post-Fight Criticism After Gray Maynard Fight

Kenny Florian Talks Dana White Post-Fight Criticism After Gray Maynard Fight. var s1 = new SWFObject("http://www.mmatko.com/player-viral.swf","JW","480","420","9"); s1.addParam("allowscriptaccess", "always"); s1.addParam("allowfullscreen","true"); s1.addParam("wmode","transparent"); s1.addParam("flashvars","file=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1fO-wtU8zA"); s1.addVariable("enablejs", "true"); s1.write("mediaspace");

Source: http://www.mmatko.com/kenny-florian-talks-dana-white-post-fight-criticism-after-gray-maynard-fight/

Heath Herring Branden Lee Hinkle Sam Hoger Mark Hominick

ROUNDTABLE: Was UFC 122 the worst UFC event of 2010? Hansen, Lee, Hyden, Hobaugh, Perez, Marsh, Williams, Shelby and Penick

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Was UFC 122 the worst UFC event of the year?

RICH HANSEN, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

UFC Fight Night: Maynard vs. Diaz might have been as bad as UFC 122, but the bar is set lower for a UFN than for a numbered event.  UFC 122 featured the least spectacular card going into the event, and was also the least entertaining event of the year.  Any way you look at it, yes, UFC 122 blew chunks.

ERIC LEE, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I would say UFC 120 was the worst event of the year. The fights were somewhat exciting. Condit had a surprising and spectacular knockout. But at the end of the event all that fighting really didn't make anything happen. There was no title fight nor was there even a title contention fight. Condit was not promised a title shot nor was Bisping for his win over Akiyama. It was especially lackluster because the main card only featured one finish from Condit. Every other fight was to decision. Not an event I'll remember.

FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

No, I think UFC 119 was the worst UFC event of the year. The supposed "main event" of Frank Mir vs. Cro-Cop was one of the worst main events in the history of fighting. UFC 119 was one of the worst UFC events of all-time, and anyone who bought that show deserves a refund.

ERIC HOBAUGH, MMATORCH SPECIALIST

UFC 119 in Indianapolis was the worst UFC event of this year.  UFC 122 was close.  The difference was that 119 was a pay-per-view event.  The fact that 122 was not a pay-per-view makes it NOT AS BAD.  The fights were horrible in both, but not paying for terrible fights is always better than paying for them!

ANWAR PEREZ, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

It's possible that UFC 122 was the worst event of the year, but going in, with the fights that were on the card, you had to know it was going to be a dud waiting to happen.  I would actually say that UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi was the worst.  That had a stacked fight card, yet was headlined by one of the worst fights in UFC history with Anderson Silva dancing around Damian Maia, and a sloppy host of other fights. I would say that was the worst with the expectations it had surrounding it.

GRIFFIN MARSH, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I'm still waiting on Dana to repay me for 112 and I seriously hope this wasn't his idea of compensation.  It was without a doubt the worst card of the year, even worse than 119.  Every bout with the exception of one or two were capable of inducing an insomniac into a deep, deep sleep. I was very disapointed with the event but hey, it's free!  Hopefully Dana will keep his word as far as the repayment for 112, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

ALEX WILLIAMS, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

No.  The fights were not riveting, and more importantly, most were not significant (i.e., most of the wins and losses didn't impact the title scene).  Thin cards are what happen when the UFC insists on running so many events per year.  Still, one key reason I greatly preferred UFC 122 to, say, UFC 119 (Frank Mir vs Mirko Cro Cop): the UFC didn't ask me to pay $55 to watch a card that had no business being on pay-per-view.

TOBEN SHELBY, MMATORCH AUDIO CO-HOST

I'm not 100% sure that UFC 122 was the "worst" UFC event this year, but since I fell asleep twice while watching it and several other bad events this year didn't look quite as bad in retrospect, I'll give it the nod. There were some decent fights, but no standouts and a less-than-thrilling main event didn't help. It's weird to say a card that saw a number one contender for the middleweight title emerge was the worst card of the year, but it just didn't leave a great taste in my mouth. 

JAMIE PENICK, MMATORCH EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

I'd have to lean to UFC 119, because while UFC 122 was certainly a lackluster event, capped off by a disappointing main event, it didn't cost fans to see it, and the expectations were lower. The Sean Sherk vs. Evan Dunham fight at 119 was the only one that boosted it, but with many disagreeing with the decision it brought that fight down a notch as well. The rest of the fights on the main card of that event were disappointing at best, and really bad at worst. 122, while not a good card, still showcased a few entertaining prelims and wasn't nearly as disappointing as 119.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/roundtables/article_7543.shtml

Joe Stevenson Luke Stewart Denis Stojnic Curtis Stout

UFC in talks with Michigan regarding timekeeping issue; officials dismiss conspiracy

While the biggest stories coming from this past weekend's UFC 123 event initially appeared to be a razor-thin decision in the main event and a stunning 21-second victory by B.J. Penn, the center of attention since has shifted dramatically.

Seemingly unnoticed during the main-card matchup between Maiquel Falcao and Gerald Harris, the night's official timekeeper may have put a halt to the bout's first round nearly seven seconds early.

In an MMAjunkie.com exclusive, UFC president Dana White, VP of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner and a representative from Falcao's Chute Boxe team weigh in.


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mmajunkie/~3/ssTfhygmIYg/ufc-in-talks-with-michigan-regarding-timekeeping-issue-officials-dismiss-conspiracy.mma

Roman Webber Mark Weir Fabricio Werdum Vernon White

Former NBA star Glen Rice is an MMA promoter

Everyone wants a piece of the MMA game. That includes a former hoops star who made $66.7 million during his time in the NBA. Glen Rice is an MMA convert and he's got a card coming up Thursday night in South Florida.

"They're conditioned athletes. Their workouts are extremely difficult," Rice said. "Me as being an ex-professional basketball player, we worked hard but we didn't work as hard as these guys do."

Rice's G-Force promotions has also booked Trick Daddy to perform at the Bank United Center. The card has a mix of male and female fights. Rice and fighters Jessica Aguilar and Mike Vallejo appeared on WQAM in Miami to push Bad Blood 4

Aguilar, a 2010 Bellator featherweight tournament semifinalist, is on the card. She talked about her passion for fighting and said Mexican pride fuels her when she's getting battered. WQAM host Joe Rose got into the great history of Mexican fighters.

"But don't compare me to the Mexican who fought this weekend," Aguilar said referencing Antonio Margarito. "I don't like to talk. I like to do. I guess I think he deserved it for talking so bad."

Margarito suffered a unanimous-decision defeat at the hands of Manny Pacquiao. By the end of the fight, Margarito's eyes were closed and he had suffered a broken orbital bone. Aguilar said she doesn't believe Margarito's excuses about his illegal hand wrap before the Shane Mosley fight.

The main event of Bad Blood 4 features Dhafir Harris. In Florida, "Da Da 5000" is being talked about as Kimbo Slice 2.0.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Former-NBA-star-Glen-Rice-is-an-MMA-promoter?urn=mma-286517

Jose Landi Jons Icho Larenas Bobby Lashley Joe Lauzon