Herschel Walker Helps Strikeforce Pull Solid Ratings

This past weekend's "Strikeforce: Miami" event, which featured two title fights and the promotional debuts of WWE/TNA star Bobby Lashley and former NFL great Herschel Walker, drew 517,000 viewers on Showtime.

The event took place on Jan. 30 at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla.
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Compared to Strikeforce's most recent event, "Strikeforce: Evolution" in December, ratings for "Miami" were up sharply. As MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) previously reported, the Dec. 19 event, which featured Scott Smith vs. Cung Le and a lightweight title-unification bout of Gilbert Melendez vs. Josh Thomson, drew just 341,000 viewers.

- MMA Junkie brings news of very good ratings for Strikeforce: Miami.

There didn't seem to be nearly as much interest in Bobby Lashley as there was in Herschel Walker so I think it's fair to say that Herschel was responsible for a large chunk of the viewership boost.  But how many of these extra viewers are going to tune in the next time Strikeforce puts on a show?

There is a very good chance that the majority of people who tuned in to see how Walker fared in MMA aren't going to be nearly as interested to see what happens the next time Nick Diaz or Robbie Lawler throw down.