Though up from WEC 50 by more than 150,000 viewers, Thursday’s stacked WEC 51: Aldo vs. Gamburyan lineup still failed to truly impress in the ratings department.
Thursday’s show averaged 486,000 viewers with a 0.3 adults 18-49 rating. The viewership total was the mixed martial arts promotion’s highest since the 640,000 for WEC 46, headlined by Ben Henderson vs. Jamie Varner, but it additionally pales in comparison to some of the marks from 2008 and 2009.
While some shows, like WEC 46, benefit from the booking of Urijah Faber, the promotion’s biggest draw, others like WEC 37 were considerably lower in profile and still managed to draw about 200,000 more viewers.
WEC 51 was considered a stacked lineup–in addition to showcasing a title fight between pound-for-pound force Jose Aldo and “The Ultimate Fighter” alum Manny Gamburyan, the show included a grudge match between Jamie Varner and Donald Cerrone, Miguel Torres vs. Charlie Valencia and separate bouts for Leonard Garcia and “The Korean Zombie,” who competed in what many feel was the fight of the year this spring.
Considering shows headlined by the likes of Torres and Varner have drawn more than 600,000 viewers, the hope was that one in which they were not even the main-eventers would have at least performed at that level. It did not.
