Spike TV issued a press release on Monday touting the ratings success of their Bellator 138: “Unfinished Business” live Spike TV fight card on Friday, June 19, 2015, for the show headlined by the grudge match between Ken Shamrock and Kimbo Slice.
The event, which emanated from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri, peaked with 2.1 million viewers for the final quarter hour of the show, which garnered an average of 1.6 million viewers overall.
According to the release issued by Bellator and Spike TV, the Shamrock-Kimbo bout was the highest and most-watched Bellator MMA fight in the history of Spike TV.
In terms of demographics breakdown, Bellator 138 finished number one with men 18-49 in all of television in its’ time slot, and number one with adults 18-49 on all of cable television for its’ time slot.
In terms of ratings success in the sports world, Bellator 138 on Spike TV beat out FOX’s coverage of U.S. Open golf by +128% with men 18-34, +99% with men 18-49 and +89% with men adults 18-49.
Additionally, the Shamrock-Slice fight was the most watched MMA fight on all of cable television since January of 2015.
Bellator officials also touted the following social media success for their event this past Friday evening:
* Social reach was over 105 million compared to the previous high of 40 million (Bellator 131)
* #Bellator138 trended worldwide and No. 1 in the U.S. from 15 minutes into the broadcast until the end
* Most unique Twitter authors ever for a Bellator event
Of course, all of these numbers have the MMA community up in a frenzy, as a large portion of the fan base is of the opinion that the Ken Shamrock vs. Kimbo Slice fight a “work,” or a “fixed fight.” You can judge for yourself by watching the fight by clicking here: VIDEO: Ken Shamrock vs. Kimbo Slice Full Fight Video.
For those interested, you can also watch the complete Bobby Lashley vs. Dan Charles fight from Friday’s Bellator 138 event by clicking this link: VIDEO: Bobby Lashley vs. Dan Charles Full Fight Video.
