By Wade Keller, Torch editor

While a typical edition of Raw draws around 5.3 million viewers, UFC set an all-time viewing record for the main event of Saturday's free-in-the-U.S. UFC 75 event on Spike TV, drawing 5.6 million viewers for the Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs. Dan Henderson title unification fight and 4.7 million viewers on average over the course of the three hour event.

The following is the press release Spike TV sent to PWTorch.com today touting the record ratings...

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"UFC 75" ON SPIKE TV IS THE MOST WATCHED UFC EVENT IN HISTORY

4.7 Million Viewers Tune In To See First Ever UFC Title Bout On Spike TV

Fight Card Outdrew Everything Else On Television With Young Men On September 8 Including College Football And NASCAR

New York, NY – September 11, 2007 – The first ever UFC title fight on Spike TV drew a staggering 4.7 million viewers on Saturday, September 8 (9:00pm-12:11am) making it the most watched UFC event ever and the most watched mixed martial arts event ever in North America. The "UFC 75" telecast emanating from the O2 Arena in London, England peaked at 5.6 million for the bout between UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and PRIDE champ Dan Henderson. The fight card drew more Men 18-34 and Men 18-49 than anything else on television, broadcast or cable on September 8, including heavy sports competition from college football on ABC and ESPN, NASCAR on ABC, and the U.S. Open Women's Final on CBS.

"The ratings are further proof that the tide in American sports is changing," said Kevin Kay, General Manager, Spike TV. "Young men, who constitute the Spike TV core audience, prefer the incredible action and athleticism of the UFC to more traditional sports."

"We're very proud to have added to the rich history of sports in London with this watershed mixed martial arts event," said Dana White, UFC President. "Not only did UFC 75 showcase the bout that unified the 205 lb Pride and UFC titles, it did so in front of a record breaking crowd at the O2 Arena in London, and in front of the largest U.S. audience to ever tune in to an MMA card during its Spike TV telecast."

"UFC 75" on Spike TV scored 2,503,000 Men 18-49 compared to 2.3 million for Oregon vs. Michigan on ABC; 2.1 million for NASCAR on ABC; 1.3 million for Virginia Tech vs. LSU on ESPN; 1.3 million for Notre Dame vs. Penn St on ESPN, and 546,000 for the U.S. Open Women's Final on CBS.

"UFC 75" on Spike TV scored 1,622,000 Men 18-34 compared to 1.2 million for Oregon vs. Michigan on ABC; 717,000 for NASCAR on ABC; 656,000 million for Virginia Tech vs. LSU on ESPN; 687,000 for Notre Dame vs. Penn St on ESPN and 190,000 for the U.S. Open Women's Final on CBS.

Overall, the Spike TV telecast drew a 3.1 rating (3.0 million homes), 5.7 Men 18-34 (1.6 million), 4.5 in M18-49 (2.5 million), and 6.2 rating in M25-34 (1.0 million).

Jackson won a hard fought, five round, unanimous decision over Henderson to unify the UFC and PRIDE titles in the 205lb weight class. The night's action also featured a hotly contested three round battle between former The Ultimate Fighter 3 teammates Michael "The Count" Bisping and Matt "The Hammer" Hamill, with a split decision going to Bisping. Frenchman Cheick Kongo and Mirko Cro Cop went head to head in a battle of feared kickboxers, with Kongo earning a unanimous decision after three rounds in the Octagon. 

The action-packed undercard also featured Nebraska native Houston Alexander winning his second straight UFC bout in stunning fashion, knocking out his opponent Alessio Sakara in just over a minute into the first round, and surging welterweight contender Marcus "The Irish Hand Grenade" Davis extending his UFC win streak to six after submitting Paul Taylor via arm-bar in the first round of their match-up.

Spike TV is the exclusive cable television home to the premier mixed martial arts organization in the world, The Ultimate Fighting Championship. The sixth season of the highly-rated reality series, "The Ultimate Fighter," featuring UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra and former champ Matt Hughes as coaches, premieres Wednesday, September 19 at 11:00pm ET/PT.

Spike TV is available in 93.6 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks. A unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), MTV Networks is one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. 

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