Action makes 'Ultimate' a contender

0 Comments | USA TODAY, July, 2006 | by Michael McCarthy

There's a brawl shaping up on sports TV this summer pitting the new sport of mixed martial arts against the sweet science of boxing: Spike TV's The Ultimate Fighter and ESPN's The Contender.

The marriage of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and the male-targeted Spike is working.

This year's third season of Ultimate Fighter averaged a 1.8 household TV rating -- 3.1 with the elusive audience of men 18 to 34 years old coveted by sponsors. Spike now airs six UFC shows. The Ultimate Fighter 4: The Comeback debuts Aug. 17.

UFC President Dana White says the shows have become an assembly line for new TV talent. The UFC catapulted in popularity after Spike's live telecast of Forrest Griffin's victory against Stephan Bonnar in 2005, a slugfest that's drawn...

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