WWE & MMA ratings delayed due to President’s Day
Due to President’s Day, all of the ratings are delayed.
Ratings for Raw last night, UFC on Sunday, and Bellator on Saturday should all be available tomorrow.
Raw was coming off the lowest rated episode in more than 20 years that wasn’t on either a holiday or against a major sporting event. The show was built around Braun Strowman vs. Big Show in the main event, which got over well with the live crowd, as well as controversy regarding the Women’s title.
UFC had Derrick Lewis vs. Travis Browne and Johny Hendricks vs. Hector Lombard. UFC has done well in the past on Sunday nights. It was also on one hour earlier than usual, which should be a plus for the main card since the main event ended at around midnight instead of after 1 a.m., as is often the case on Saturdays.
Bellator ran Saturday instead of Friday, because the company feels if they run a West Coast date, that TV going on the air at 6 p.m. on a Friday Pacific time and the show starting a few hours earlier with prelims, that it’s tougher to sell on Fridays. It also had competition from boxing, which it doesn’t have with its Friday night shows. But the most recent Saturday night show, headlined by Chael Sonnen vs. Tito Ortiz, did the third largest numbers in company history.
Bellator was from San Jose and was expecting a strong rating due to Fedor Emelianenko fighting in the main event. But with the last minute pullout, that will no doubt hurt the numbers.
Dave Meltzer is the founder and lead writer on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the weekly constant when it comes to news and reviews in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts for more than 40 years. Dave also co-hosts Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and had had bylines for The National, Yahoo Sports, MMA Fighting and others.