The TUF 18 Finale on Saturday night drew an average of 1,129,000 viewers on FOX Sports 1.
That’s up a whopping 405,000 viewers from ‘UFC Fight Night 32’ and makes it the second most watched show for the UFC so far on FS1, and the sixth best for the channel as a whole since it’s launch.
There was more good news as even the prelims performed strongly, pulling in 938,000 viewers – the best rating for a preliminary card so far on the channel.
So, there’s certainly cause for celebration here for the UFC and FOX Sports 1, particularly as there was no real indication pre-fight that this card was going to significantly outperform some of their other recent shows.
It’d be nice to think that someone like Diaz can draw a card, but it’s hard to believe that his third fight with Maynard on it’s own was responsible for drawing more interest than other recent main events like Vitor Belfort Vs Dan Henderson for instance.
The fact that even the prelims did well suggests that people were just interested in the event as a while, and perhaps that adds weight to the argument that many fans are genuinely interested in watch female fights.
If that was the case then it didn’t turn out to be the best showcase for them as while there was no less than three bouts featuring females on the main card, they didn’t turn out to be of the best quality for the most part.
The night did end with a bang though thanks to Diaz’s shellacking of Maynard in the main event.
It’s heartening to see the UFC finally get a show above that one million barrier again, and it’ll be interesting to see how this weekend’s ‘UFC Fight Night 33’ event from Australia compares.
—
UFC Ratings On FOX Sports 1 To Date:
UFC Fight Night 26: 1.78 million viewers
UFC Fight Night 27: 824,000 viewers
UFC Fight Night 28: 539,000 viewers
UFC Fight Night 29: 638,000 viewers
UFC Fight Night 31: 641,000 viewers
UFC Fight Night 32: 722,000 viewers
TUF 18 Finale: 1.12 million viewers
