The UFC launched its attempt to replicate the success of its “Primetime” documentary series, and episode one was, judging by ratings, a big success.
The March 10 premiere of the series, which focuses on the UFC 111 main event between Georges St. Pierre and Dan Hardy, drew an average of one million viewers on Spike TV -- higher than any episode of the first three-week “Primetime” series that aired in January. The only hype special the UFC has ever done that drew that high of a rating was the “Countdown” show for UFC 100 in July.
The first “Primetime” series spotlighted GSP v. B.J. Penn and helped push their fight at UFC 94 to 920,000 pay-per-view buys, according to Yahoo! Sports, the second-highest buy rate the UFC had last year. The first episode of that series drew its highest rating at 880,000 viewers.
The St. Pierre-Hardy episodes have been followed by an immediate replay that has drawn healthy numbers, as well. The premiere likely got a boost from its lead-in, the first airing of fights from the UFC 108 pay-per-view. On March 17, in addition to “Primetime,” Spike will air a separate “Countdown” show looking at the UFC 111 fight between Frank Mir and Shane Carwin.
The GSP vs. Hardy episode featured introductions to the fighters’ respective Montreal and Nottingham, England, training camps, with St. Pierre working an Olympic-caliber power lifting regimen, his Brazilian jiu-jitsu with Renzo Gracie and his muay Thai with Phil Nurse. Hardy threw out several zingers, saying the MMA world and GSP fawners will be in mourning the day after the fight and pledging to “beat the fake tan” off the French Canadian.
The series, which tries to develop cliffhanger, episodic drama, used St. Pierre’s 2007 loss to Matt Serra as a way to develop a storyline. Hardy arrives in New Jersey, where the fight will take place March 27, toward the end of the episode and motors to Serra’s gym to pick up pointers. The first episode ends with a slow-motion handshake between the two.
While Hardy has been characteristically sharp-tongued in hyping what will likely be the UFC’s biggest pay-per-view of the first quarter, he has seen some adjustments to his image. The official event poster for UFC 111 has his stomach tattoo airbrushed away and his red mohawk dyed black. Hardy told MMAJunkie.com that the stomach airbrush job was done so as not to detract visually from the event information listed across the bottom of the poster.
“Primetime” may boost pay-per-view orders, but it was not needed to fill the Prudential Center on March 27. UFC 111 was announced as sold out by the promotion, with a healthy $3.4 million gate. The promotion has added a closed-circuit viewing party at Radio City Music Hall in New York.