MMAConvert.com

On this week’s edition of Fox Fight Game, Mike Straka and crew talk about Tito Ortiz’s return to the UFC. Cain Velasquez also makes a guest appearance.

On this week’s edition of ESPN MMA Live, Jon Anik and crew recap UFC 105 and WEC 44 and preview UFC 106.

Spike has released the ratings for UFC 105. The event drew an average 2.9 million viewers and peaked at 3.7 million viewers during the Couture-Vera main event. MMA Payout has more:

UFC 105 on Spike TV drew a 1.9 HH rating for an average 2.9 million viewers last Saturday night. The event also fared well in the M18-34 and M18-49 demographics with a 3.45 and 2.84, respectively.

While Strikeforce/CBS outperformed UFC 105/Spike in average and total viewership, Spike wasn’t shy about letting everyone know they beat CBS in the younger male demographics, especially the rarely-mentioned-but-we’re-going-to-include-it-to-say-we-smoked-them-in-something 18-24 male demo.

• P 18-34 by 30%  (UFC 105 2.37, CBS Saturday Night Fights 1.82)
• M 18-34 by 49%  (UFC 105 3.45, CBS Saturday Night Fights 2.32)
• M 18-24 by 73%  (UFC 105 2.99, CBS Saturday Night Fights 1.73)
• M 25-34 by 37%  (UFC 105 3.78, CBS Saturday Night Fights 2.76)
• M 18-49 by 16%  (UFC 105 2.84, CBS Saturday Night Fights 2.45)

The funny, yet kinda sad thing is the TUF 10 Finale in a couple weeks is probably going to blow both events out of the water with Kimbo on the card.

“I cannot put into words how much pressure has come off me right now…I have had a lot of critics, a lot of people doubting me, a lot of people writing me off as a fighter and saying ‘he has been exposed’…Whoever the UFC say, I will fight. I just keep doing my job and keep trying to win fights…I felt pretty comfortable. Denis is a highly-respected black belt. I felt confident on the ground, he hit me with a few shots but I never felt in any trouble. I was going to scramble back to my feet but I kind of caught the clock and I thought ‘well this round is nearly over, I have lost this round, I will save it for the second round,’…Going into the second round I felt very confident, I thought ‘I have just took his best there’, I am sure he wanted me on the ground as he thought he could submit me. Yeah, I felt very confident. In the second round when I took him down and started ground and pounding him, I could see it in his eyes. I don’t know which shot it was but one of them broke his will.”

—Michael Bisping talking about his big victory over Denis Kang at UFC 105

I’m not gonna lie, I thought Kang was going to smash Bisping, but it was very much the opposite. In the second round, Bisping took Kang down and destroyed him. He definitely answered all the questions last night. Props to him.

Image via UFC.com

“I’m pissed, I’m really pissed, but the sport of MMA, she, MMA, is a b—h and if you let it go to the judges, you let it out of your hands, you know? So, I’m going to take the blame for this loss. I’m going to man up…I should have finished it. I had a couple of opportunities to during the fight that I should have finished it. I’m super happy I got to fight Randy Couture, my hero, my legend, and let the rest of the light heavyweight division know that I’m going to whip you’re a– if you get into the Octagon with me.”

—Brandon Vera reacting to losing the decision to Randy Couture in the UFC 105 main event

It’s definitely a tough pill to swallow for Brandon Vera. He clearly inflicted the most damage, but Randy controlled him the clinch for a large portion of the fight. How you scored it was probably based on which you thought was more significant. I thought the damage was, but the judges obviously thought otherwise.

If nothing else, hopefully this will light a fire under Brandon’s ass to start finishing people like he used to.

Image via UFC.com.

UFC 105 took place earlier today at the MEN Arena in Manchester, England.

In the night’s main event, Randy Couture returned to the light heavyweight division to take on Brandon Vera.

Dan Hardy and Mike Swick fought for a potential welterweight title shot against Georges St. Pierre.

Michael Bisping looked to rebound from his humbling defeat at the hand of Dan Henderson in a middleweight match-up against Denis Kang.

James Wilks looked to get his first victory since winning season 9 of The Ultimate Fighter against TUF 7 veteran Matt Brown.

The other TUF 9 champ, Ross Pearson took on Aaron Riley in a lightweight contest.

Results, thoughts, bonuses and live gate (when available) after the jump.

UFC 105 kicks off in a couple hours. The event airs via tape-delay from the MEN Arena in Manchester, England at 8PM ET/PT on Spike TV.