Such was the level of interest in last weekend’s UFC 158 main event between GSP and Nick Diaz that even the weigh-ins on Fuel TV managed to break a ratings record.
Airing at 4pm ET the weigh-ins were the most watched of all time with 215,000 viewers – 67% higher than any previous audience for a UFC weigh-in show.
That was enough for a 0.47 household rating and a 0.57 rating amongst men 18-49.
Dana White was so delighted with the figures that he even posted them himself on the popular ‘UG’ forum, simply stating, “Wow!” at the numbers the show had produced.
The post-event show also delivered strong numbers, with 125,000 viewers tuning in at 1am ET to see the aftermath and analysis on Fuel TV, significantly more than for any other previous PPV card.
It appears that the pay-per-view sales for the event were also strong with White confirming following the event on Saturday night that it was trending in a similar fashion to UFC 148: Silva Vs Sonnen 2 which did in the region of 925,000 PPV buys.
Another respected industry source, Yahoo! Sports Kevin Iole, has since confirmed that the event is on course to be one of the UFC’s biggest in recent times.
“Still don’t have an exact figure, but UFC 158 PPV is WAY above projections. This could be a massive one,” Iole reported on Twitter yesterday, adding, “It has a chance to hit or exceed 1 million.”
