Sometimes I feel like people in the realm of MMA vastly underestimate the professional wrestling lead-in when it comes to MMA. Would the UFC have grown to where it is today without The Ultimate Fighter following Monday Night Raw? Chances are that they wouldn’t have. Would the UFC have seen a million buys without Brock Lesnar? Yes, but the pop that Lesnar, a former and now current pro wrestler, gave them was invaluable.
Bellator is starting to learn the same thing as their move to Wednesday nights, if only temporary, was still somewhat of a ratings disaster. According to Dave Meltzer, Bellator did around 480,000 for their Wednesday night program, which is quite a drop off. They are blaming it on hockey playoffs, but c’mon.