Haven't seen it reported anywhere else yet, but UFC on FX 2 did 1.4 million average. This isn't a great number but it's better than their first show in January and it's what I would call respectable. The negative spin is that it got beat in it's timeslot on cable by several different shows. The bright side is it was amongst the top few shows on cable during it's timeslot amongst the coveted 18-49 year old demographic. Also, it was the most watched live programming or sports programming in its timeslot. Overall, around what I was expecting. Friday night is terrible for television. I'm hoping that TUF can average 1.5 million per episode this season.

Heard today that ticket sales were going fairly well. Average ticket price is pretty reasonable so there will probably be a strong crowd there. As of a couple of weeks ago they had supposedly already sold over 12,000 tickets. I'm not sure which configuration they'll be using at the Saitama Super Arena (the 14,000 one or the 30,000 one). This is reassuring news. Hopefully this can be a successful show. The best kept secret, though, has been whether or not Zuffa is close to landing a television partner for this event. If they can't find a good deal with a network the event will be available to Japanese viewers through WOWOW, a satellite network in Japan that has over 2.5 million subscribers. Ideally, however, Zuffa would like to have a network partner for this show. I'm sure that Zuffa isn't counting on a high buyrate in North America for this one. My guess is that they'll announce a network partner for this event sometime before mid February.