Spike TV once again aired a portion of a UFC fight card on its network prior to a major pay-per-view (PPV) broadcast, as fans were treated to one hour of uninterrupted mixed martial arts competition featuring Marcus Davis vs. Ben Saunders in a welterweight showdown (among others) on the UFC 106: "Ortiz vs. Griffin 2" under card last Saturday night (Nov 21.).
Similar to UFC 103 in Sept. and then UFC 104 in Oct., which both attracted about 1.4 million viewers as the promotion began to test the idea along with its cable television partner, the UFC 106 featured prelim bouts aired commercial-free and garnered a 1.0 household rating for 1.3 million viewers.
Spike TV today announced that the hour-long, commercial-free broadcast was a big hit among men between the ages of 18 to 34, scoring more viewers in that demographic than the ESPN broadcast of Big 12 football rivals Kansas State and the University of Nebraska in a game to crown the Big 12 North conference champions.
Viewers were treated to Ben Saunders stunning technical knockout over Marcus Davis, as well as Kendall Grove's slick submission win over Jake Rosholt. While the program continues to do well, it is still considered to be a temporary endeavor.
For complete UFC 106 results and blow-by-blow coverage of the main card action click here and here.
Check out a video highlight package from "Ortiz vs. Griffin 2" below.
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