UFC Analysis: Feeling Punchy?

With the UFC staking its claim as one of the top topics in sports, mainstream coverage of the federation continues to blossom. Their most recent fight card, UFC 73, smashed the Search box as expected. But how did 73 compare to past UFC pay-per-view events? For the answer, we pulled up a graph of the seven most recent UFC cards and stacked them up against one another. Here's what we found...

In examining the graph, we were astonished by how UFC 71 demolished the other six fight cards in such a rout. But with the oodles of hype that surrounded brawler Chuck Liddell and the rise of mixed-martial arts in the build-up to 71, the event served as a sort of tipping point for interest in the UFC.

However, we can also glean that the two most recent PPV extravanganzas didn't maintain the search audience built by 71. The drop-off in Buzz performance of 72 and 73 should be worrisome for the folks behind Ultimate Fighting. That's not to say the UFC is going anywhere—most sports would kill for the run of buzz UFC's had over the past year.

Will the UFC assemble another card this year that lives up to the standard set by UFC 71? We'll be watching...