The following are three stories in the news five years ago this week published at MMATorch.com by Jamie Penick…
Anderson Silva on Mark Munoz call-out – “I thought he was a friend”
After defeating Chris Leben at UFC 138, Mark Munoz said he wanted a shot at UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva. The two fighters had spent some time training together at Silva’s Black House camp, and in a brief response to SPORTV.com, Silva expressed some slight annoyance at the call-out from a former training partner:
“I hadn’t even seen [Munoz’s challenge]. I thought Munoz was a friend, but that’s okay…”
UFC Welterweight Champ Georges St-Pierre says he makes between $4-$5 million per fight
The amount of income for UFC fighters disclosed to commissions following events is oftentimes not near the amount of money those fighters are actually making, especially for fighters on the top of a card. However, it’s not often that a fight will actually comment on how much they take in from fight to fight. UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre – unquestionably one of the top two draws on pay-per-view for the UFC – has given a rough estimate of his earnings in a comment made to the Agence France-Presse:
“I learned that the UFC makes the most money on pay-per-view when I am fighting. That made me smile. For me, a fight is [worth] $4 to $5 million, and in the city where the UFC holds its events, there are economic benefits of between $15 to $20 million. It’s huge!”
UFC 138 draws average of 1.8 million viewers for tape-delayed broadcast on Spike TV
Saturday’s tape-delayed broadcast of UFC 138 on Spike TV drew an average of 1.8 million viewers during the three-hour broadcast, peaking with just over 2.1 million viewers. It was the number one rated program on cable television in the network’s key demos of men 18-49 and men 18-34 during its timeslot.
The event, headlined by Mark Munoz’s victory over Chris Leben, took place from Birmingham, England on Saturday afternoon U.S. time, but Spike TV did not begin airing the three-hour broadcast until 8PM ET.
It drew a 1.2 household rating, with a 1.54 in men 18-49, and a 1.71 in men 18-34. The numbers were down from the UFC’s last two tape-delayed broadcasts from 2010, with UFC 120 in England drawing 1.9 million viewers and UFC 122 from Germany drawing 2.2 million viewers to the network.
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