![]() The network committed with the EliteXC organization to air four “Fight Nights” and could add two more if ratings are high. That’ll be terrific.”įights will air live to the East Coast and will be tape-delayed in the West. “And if that helps us get a little younger, then so be it. “We saw an opportunity to really kind of plant our flag on a growing sport,” said Kelly Kahl, the network’s top scheduler. CBS traditionally has the oldest audience of all the networks. There’s an equivalent upside for the Tiffany Network. “You only have once chance and one opportunity to walk down that road, and when that opportunity comes, you have to step up to the plate.” “It’s been a new experience,” Ferguson said softly after posing for cameras at a CBS press conference. He’s been doing the publicity rounds for the network, including donning a cowboy hat to present Rascal Flatts with a trophy at the recent CBS-televised Academy of Country Music Awards. But online clips of him convincingly pounding nightclub bouncers in Miami backyards, filmed by the pornography outfit where he was working as a bodyguard, drew millions of viewers.įerguson, who according to MMA lore named one of his six kids Kevlar, is the main attraction on CBS’ first card. He’s only fought in two pro matches, winning both. They were part of “Never Back Down,” the formulaic kid-learns-to-fight tale that took in over $30 million worldwide since its March release.Īnd they made a star of bearded 34-year-old Kevin Ferguson, known as Kimbo Slice. Widely circulated Internet videos reflect MMA’s underground roots. Nielsen ratings don’t tell the whole story. A series highlighting pros’ stories in and out of the ring, “The Ultimate Fighter,” is the highest rated original series on Spike TV, averaging nearly 2 million viewers over seven seasons.Ī much-touted fight between Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Dan “Hollywood” Henderson drew 5.8 million viewers to the network last season that’s comparable to TNT’s audience for last week’s NBA playoff games. Parisyan is part of the sport’s dominant organization, the Ultimate Fighting Championship. “Grandmas! I’m like ‘Do you watch UFC?’ And they’re like ‘Yeah, my son watches it and I sit there and watch with him.”‘ “Grandmas have recognized me before on the street,” the Armenian fighter said during a break during training at his friend’s backyard gym in the San Fernando Valley. Two movies set in the MMA world hit theaters in recent months, including one by acclaimed writer David Mamet, and more are on the way.īut can the brutal sport of chokeholds and sharp elbows truly cross over? In the wee hours after “Saturday Night Live,” NBC is airing a series with fighter profiles and bout footage. Tonight, CBS will become the first legacy network to show full matches in prime time. After coming on strong among young men in the last several years, the sport of mixed martial arts is headed for a clinch with mainstream pop culture.
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