Early Ratings: Kimbo Slice-Roy Nelson Fight Sets MMA Viewership Records

We knew a plenty of people were going to watch Wednesday's "The Ultimate Fighter" match between Kimbo Slice and Roy Nelson, but early ratings show that Slice is even more of a ratings phenomenon then some experts gave him credit for.

According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer/Yahoo fame, the early numbers have Wednesday's edition of "TUF" as the highest-rated MMA show in history.

An estimated 5.3 million viewers tuned in for the show and 6.1 million for the fight itself.

This makes it the "highest rated fight in the history of UFC programming and most-watched MMA television show from start-to-finish in history," according to Meltzer.

In the all-important 18- to 34-year-old male demographic, the show had a 6.8 rating, the highest in Spike history.

The channel's previous high was Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock III in October 2006.

The fight itself peaked at 7.86 for males 18 to 34. The replay brought in an impressive 1.5 million.

Meltzer estimates this will translate into a final number of between 3.5-4.0 and had this interesting observation:

"Essentially, one out of every 12 males 18-34 in the U.S. last night watched either the live or replay show, comparable to probably the biggest sporting events in our culture other than NFL championship level games. "

Even in defeat, we are not even close to hearing the last of Kimbo Slice.

Josh Nason has published MMA, wrestling and boxing blog Ropes, Ring and Cage.com since 2007. He is a contributor to Fight Magazine, Bleacher Report since 2008 and appears regularly on Fight Network Radio. Follow him on Twitter.