UFC 115 Prelims On Spike TV Draw 1.3 Million Viewers

The two bouts that made up the UFC 115 prelim card for Spike TV drew an estimated average of 1.3 million viewers during the broadcast. The one hour long special, which featured a lightweight contest between Mac Danzig and Matt Wiman and another lightweight contest between Tyson Griffin and Evan Dunham, topped out at 1.5 million viewers at one point in the evening.

The fight, which featured Wiman and Danzig, two lightweights struggling to find their places in the division, ended in controversy when referee Yves Lavigne stopped the fight entirely too soon. Wiman suggested to the official that Danzig had succumbed to unconsciousness as a result of an early guillotine choke, but when the fight was stopped, Danzig was anything but unconscious.

However, the second fight proved a bit of redemption prior to the pay-per-view main card, as Dunham and Griffin battled it out in a fight featuring rising lightweights. Dunham ultimately took the split-decision, dominating Griffin with his jiu-jitsu prowess.

The UFC 115 prelim special came out on the low end of viewership when compared to the past broadcasts. It falls in the lower half of the respective ranks with the UFC 111 preliminary special being the only one to score less average viewers at 1.2 million.

Saturday’s prelims on Spike TV preceded a pay-per-view card featuring a main event between Chuck Liddell and Rich Franklin, which ended via first round knockout to give Franklin the victory. A co-main event that saw Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic submit Pat Barry in the third round also highlighted the main card.