Probably a lot?

This wasn't MMA's debut on network TV. EliteXC had several shows on CBS.

UFC pulled fairly good numbers for a 'non-show' that wasn't even part of their deal and was a 1-hour test show.

Higher numbers in the 18-34 males than any CFB game this season other than Bama/LSU.

Higher than the highest EliteXC on CBS show in every demographic.

That said, it was pretty silly to not have Guida/Henderson, which was a barnburner. But this isn't even part of the deal UFC has with FOX and was a sort of cherry on top. Who cares? We just got to see the HW championship for free. And ANY fight can end like that. With 4 oz gloves, anybody can go down at any time.

It showed how bad ass UFC is without showing too much violence and without all those boring clinches and drawn out ground moves.

All in all I'd say it could have been much worse. I'd be happy that it went the way it did.

well in australia they showed guida vs henderson before the heavy weights and clay harvison vs damarquez johnson after the title fight

I think people are going to overthink this in too many ways, given that this wasn't even part of the FOX deal. The real FOX cards start next year and will always be multiple hours with multiple fights.

There's really just not a whole lot to say beyond the obvious: production was tweaked and improved. The numbers were good but not great. The quick KO was not the best and not the worst result, somewhere in the middle.

Pointless personal anecdote: I managed to convince my dad to watch (who has no interest in MMA), and he watched the backstories and decided he liked this JDS guy. Was happy that JDS won (he's also very catholic and noticed the sign of the cross several times lol) and said he'll probably watch his next fight if I remind him when it is.

mma will only get more and more popular because the best fight the best. They dont hand pick there opponents like in boxing which is why people watch it

Overeem vs Brock will be a hell of a fight, and either of those two guys against JDS will also be a hell of a fight.

HW division looking good right now. Cain has a ton of good potential bounce-back fights. I'd expect to see him either against Overeem if Overeem loses, or maybe against the winner of Mir/Big Nog (especially if Mir wins). Also got Cormier, Barnett, Werdum and Bigfoot (maybe Sergei too?) coming over to add some depth next year. More depth than I can remember for a while in the HW division.

HW division is definitely primed to give us some great match ups.

MMA is just getting started. It's 18. It's prime is still to come (mainstream).

some rough HW rankings

1. JDS
2. Cain
3. Lesnar
4. Overeem
5. Werdum
6. Mir
7. Barnett
8. Cormier
9. Carwin
10. Bigfoot

Then in some order

Vets: Fedor, Big Nog, Kongo, Nelson, Kharitonov

Prospects: Russow, Konrad, Schaub, Browne, Mitrione, Herman, Rosario

Randoms that interest me but aren't great: Struve, Barry, Hunt

compared to how it looked a few years ago, HW is very, very deep with a ton of quality.

1. JDS
2. Cain
3. Lesnar
4. Mir
5. Overeem
6. Carwin
7. Kongo
8. Nelson
9. Werdum
10. Barnett
11. Cormier

DO, is your top ten a how good you think they are or who is most likely to get a shot at the belt?

roughly based on accomplishments/resume with a dash of 'how good do i think you are' thrown in.

i like this list better, tho i'd prob drop mir a few spots

Kongo at 7 seems way too high. Assani underrating basically all of the SF heavyweights imo.

For instance: In my mind, Barnett would kill Nelson, and also has the more impressive recent resume. Nelson is 1-2 in his last 3 and let old man washed up cro cop fight surprisingly well in his one win. Nelson really has no great wins, just a few decent wins. Barnett hasn't lost since his 2006 loss to prime Nog, and has no great wins but lots of decent wins, more than Nelson.

watchin JDS right now fight shane carwin he really has boxing skills and very fluid for his size to go with his power.

watchin brock v cain. tell u what. cain hit brock first time before u knew the onslaught was coming and brock wanted no part of that. fact is brock dont have the chin to handle cain.

In my eyes Brock has a sick chin that I don't think he is completely aware of. It's the reaction to getting punched he needs to work on. Dude could get hit with a wrecking ball and probably dust himself off, yeah he might look funny trying to avoid the next few hits but he can still survive them.

holy **** sam stout on eves edwards lol sorry but never seen it omg

sure you can tell brock isnt used to getting punched hard to the face but also in the middle of the action cain caught him and just thought brock said no way and determined at that point he had to take him down and keep him there or else.

agree with yowhatsup

Brock actually has a fine chin, the problem is that his reaction to getting hit is to cower. that **** will get you killed, to quote training day. He can take plenty of punishment, but his reactions are panicky.

that could be it just panicked. he bled like a big white boy.

watchin faber v cruz. faber of course the wec dude ca kid. really he was an exciting fighter. but cruz is somehow much bigger and faster. so far. we are in round 2. oh **** faber just scored big. alright. end of 2. are they going 5 it is for the championship. stay tuned as anatta reviews two year old bouts in mma in lieu of the nba.

He is a very large, very white boy.

Random recap of the UFC on FOX ratings

5.7 million viewers averaged overall, breaking the MMA record and most for any combat sport in about a decade.

Peaked at 8.8 million during the 1-minute fight, also breaking the MMA record.

Had a higher rating among the coveted 18-34 males than any college football game this season other than Bama/LSU.

These numbers, especially the peak number and the 18-34 males, have to be seen as huge successes.

alright min left 3rd round...good fight...thing with faber with tyson when u break out that manic style its great but u know u get a little older its tougher. ok championship rounds comin up...

god damn what a fight faber just rocked him...meh now dunno maybe anatta just stoned it got kinda boring lol