UFC 166 Behind The Scenes Video, Bellator Gets Record Ratings, Champ Gets UFC EA Sports Cover
- Check out Dana White's latest video blog above, which is out to promote this week's UFC Fight for the Troops 3 event and features behind-the-scenes footage from UFC 166: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos.
- UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will grace the cover of the upcoming EA Sports UFC videogame, which is currently in development. Jones will appear on the cover next to another fighter which fans will be available to vote for. Fans have the opportunity to choose from a pre-chosen roster of 16 UFC fighters, including Ronda Rousey, Georges St-Pierre, Chael Sonnen and Jose Aldo.
The voting will take a tournament form, with some initial match ups including Michael Bisping vs. Urijah Faber and Daniel Cormier vs. Alexander Gustafsson. Fans can vote for the other EA Sports UFC cover model on the EA Sports website. The voting schedule is as follows:
Round of 16 : Prelims ? Voting live from Mon, Nov. 4th ? Sun, Nov. 10th
Round of 8 : Main Card ? Voting live from Mon, Nov. 11th ? Sun, Nov. 17th
Final Four : Co-Main Event ? Voting live from Mon, Nov. 18th ? Sun, Nov. 24th
Finals : Title Fight ? Voting live from Mon, Nov. 19th ? Sun, Dec. 1st
- Bellator's latest event garnered the highest ratings in its history. Bellator 106, which featured a lightweight rematch between Eddie Alvarez and Michael Chandler, drew 1.1 million viewers. Those numbers make the event the most watched in Bellator history and the most watched MMA television show of the fall season. The event's viewership peaked at 1.4 million and was also the number two ranked program for men ages 18-49 in the timeslot (9:00pm-12:45am).
The event was initially planned as the promotion's first pay-per-view show. However, when the proposed main event between Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Tito Ortiz fell through, the event was transferred to SpikeTV. The move seems to have worked out in Bellator's favor, as their projected pay-per-view buys were looking dismal.