CBS hoped that Kimbo Slice's internet following would travel with him to network television, and the gamble paid off.
Slice's Saturday night fight against James "The Colussus" Thompson drew a peak audience of 6.51 million viewers, breaking the record set by last September's UFC match featuring Quinton "Rampage" Jackson defending his belt against Dan Henderson. That fight aired on SpikeTV and drew 5.9 million fans. An October 2006 fight featuring Tito Ortiz against Ken Shamrock drew 5.88 million, also on Spike.
CBS is available in 112.8 million households while Spike is available in 96.1 million homes.
Kimbo earned a third-round TKO win after nearly being stopped by a second-round barrage of elbows from Thompson.
EliteXC and CBS plan to run its next show in the summer.
Video: MMA from NBC Sports |
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