The ratings are in for Saturday night’s Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand-Prix Final and reveal that some 463,000 viewers tuned in for the main card on Showtime.
That’s the best audience of the year for Strikeforce, narrowly beating out Ronda Rousey Vs Miesha Tate title showdown which drew 431,000 viewers back in March.
No doubt Zuffa will be relieved that the show picked up considerably from the dismal 274,000 viewers who tuned in to the tournament semi-final between Josh Barnett and Sergei Kharitonov in September.
At the same time, perhaps there will also be some regret that they couldn’t match some of the audience numbers from the other big grand-prix shows earlier that year, with Fedor Vs Silva having drawn 741,000 viewers while Overeem Vs Werdum did 624,000.
If a big name such as Fedor Emelianenko or Alistair Overeem had made it to the final opposite Barnett then perhaps that would have been achievable, but realistically with Daniel Cormier emerging from nowhere as an alternate to replace Overeem at the semi-final stage no-one was anticipating them reaching those heights.
When all is said in done the audience for the final was fairly good for Showtime and helps get Cormier’s name out there as he steps out of the shadows and into the spotlight as a genuine new force in the heavyweight ranks.
Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand-Prix Ratings:
- Strikeforce: Fedor Vs Silva – 741,000 viewers
- Strikeforce: Overeem Vs Werdum – 624,000
- Strikerforce: Barnett Vs Cormier – 463,000
- Strikeforce: Barnett Vs Kharitonov – 274,000
