Fueled by a highly anticipated and competitive UFC title bout between Lyoto Machida and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, MMA’s light heavyweight division drew increased fan attention in the month of October. 23% of all fan interest in the month was focused on the 205 pound class, an increase from September. The heavyweight division still remained atop the fan interest rankings despite a dip in interest from the prior month.
The middleweight and welterweight classes lost some ground without any significant fights in the month and with divisional champions Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva both inactive with injuries. The featherweight and bantamweight divisions held steady in October, yet combined only represent slightly over four percent of total fan interest in MMA.
| October Share of Fan Interest | Weight Class | Change from September |
|---|---|---|
| 1.7% | Super Heavyweight – Over 265 lbs | - |
| 29.6% | Heavyweight – 265 lbs | down 2.2% |
| 23.4% | Light Heavyweight – 205 lbs | up 2.4% |
| 16.5% | Middleweight – 185 lbs | down 0.9% |
| 11.2% | Welterweight – 170 lbs | down 0.7% |
| 13.1% | Lightweight – 155 lbs | up 0.4% |
| 3.2% | Featherweight – 145 lbs | up 0.4% |
| 1.1% | Bantamweight – 135 lbs | - |
| 0.0% | Flyweight – 125 lbs | - |
[...] class fan interest for recent months: – October 2009 – September [...]