World Extreme Cagefighting’s telecast of “Faber vs. Brown 2” on Sunday, June 7, garnered a 1.1 national HH rating and made Versus the top-rated cable network in the country among all key male demographics according to a press release received by PRO MMA (promma.info) on Friday.
The fight between WEC Featherweight Champion Mike Thomas Brown and Urijah Faber was billed as “the most anticipated featherweight championship re-match in MMA history.” Faber, who had been on a 13-fight win streak, lost his title to Brown last November at WEC 36 from a first round knockout and was granted an immediate rematch.
Brown and Faber squared off at Arco Arena in Faber’s hometown of Sacramento, Calif. this past Sunday in the main event. The rematch attracted a ton of hype, and halfway through round one, fans knew they were watching a classic unfold.
Unfortunately, Faber broke one of his hands in the first round and injured the other sometime during the bout. Faber endured the pain and finished the fight throwing mostly kicks and elbows. A fight that started out with the potential of being called “legendary” ended up just being “damn good” due to the damper put on Faber’s offense.
Faber showed great heart by going the distance without even the ability to throw a punch for most of the fight. The match went a full five rounds with Brown getting the unanimous decision. Mike Brown proved once and for all he is the rightful owner of the WEC Featherweight Title and silenced the critics (most of them) who thought his first win over Faber was a fluke.
If we are talking about ratings, and we are, then the fight between Antonio Banuelos and Scott Jorgensen also deserves to be mentioned. Banuelos won a very impressive 3-round split decision in what was arguably the “fight of the night.”
It is quite probable any channel surfer who happen to tune in to Versus when the Banuelos vs. Jorgensen fight was going on put down his remote right then and there and refused to pick it up again until Mike Brown’s hand was raised at the end of the main event’s 5th round.
Versus re-aired the entire “Brown vs. Faber 2” fight card immediately following its live telecast on Sunday and, due to overwhelming demand from fans, twice again on Wednesday, June 10. In total, the bout was seen by more than six million viewers.
In Sacramento, Faber’s hometown and the fight’s location, the live telecast on June 7 garnered a 2.2 HH rating, making VERSUS the top-rated cable network in the city for the time period.
In other Versus and WEC news, the third season of WEC WrekCAGE will debut Wednesday, June 17, at 10:00 p.m. ET. This season will include 10 one-hour episodes and will feature many great WEC fights that MMA fans have never seen unless they attended the live event.
By: Jack Bratcher