by Dann Stupp on Jan 18, 2013 at 4:30 pm ET This content is protected Bellator's Season 8 debut produced "fantastic" ratings, according to Spike TV President Kevin Kay. With the move from MTV2 to Spike TV, Thursday's Bellator 85 event averaged 938,000 viewers, nearly three times the organization's previous record. Bellator 85 took place at Bren Events Center in Irvine, Calif. Featherweight champion Pat Curran and lightweight champion Michael Chandler made successful tittle defenses on the four-fight main card, which followed Spike.com prelims. The Spike TV broadcast peaked with a 1.2 rating and nearly 1.1 million viewers for the opening fight betweem Curran and challenger Patricio "Pitbull" Freire. The night's other title fight, Chandler vs. Rick Hawn, averaged 950,000 viewers before the audience saw a noticeable dropoff after midnight (the broadcast officially ran until 12:12 a.m. ET). Compared to the Season 7 debut, ratings were up 394 percent. Bellator's previous ratings record came in May 2011, when Bellator 44 drew 325,000 viewers. Overall, Bellator's 50 events on MTV2 averaged 180,000 viewers per event. Bellator's all-time ratings include: Bellator 85 ratings: 938,000 viewers Bellator 74-84 ratings (Season 7 average on MTV2): 162,000 Bellator 71-73 ratings (Summer Series average on MTV2): 180,000 Bellator 60-70 ratings (Season 6 average on MTV2): 155,000 Bellator 49-59 ratings (Season 5 average on MTV2): 186,000 Bellator 46-48 ratings (Summer Series average on MTV2): 229,000 Bellator 35-45 ratings (Season 4 average on MTV2): 204,000 For more on Bellator 85, stay tuned to the MMA Events section of the site. :happy
The rednecks that watch Spike in the States don't know the difference between the UFC and Bellator. Just put some MMA on TV in front of them and they'll watch it. Bellator is being very smart about their marketing. They seem to be hinging a lot on making King Mo a crossover superstar between TNA and Bellator ala Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock (both of which did stints in NWA-TNA when it first started - with Shamrock being their first heavyweight champion).
