Saturday night’s UFC ON FOX 22 event drew an average of 3,178,000 viewers on Saturday night.
That makes it the highest rated ‘UFC On FOX’ show in over three years, and the fact that it also peaked with an impressive 4.6 million viewers during the main event between Paige VanZant and Michele Waterson will also be reason for both UFC and FOX to celebrate.
That means that the UFC’s decision to lead the show with young, fresh-faced up and comers like PVZ, Sage Northcutt and Mickey Gall rather than more traditional veteran stars was a success, even though two of them ultimately ended up losing.
“There’s something about them and they have that star quality where people are interested in seeing them,” White told Yahoo! Sports. “Sage is ripped and is an unbelievable physical specimen. Mickey was on the show and then he fought CM Punk and Paige had that exposure on ‘Dancing with the Stars.’ If you get out there and promote yourself, this shows you that you have a chance.”
While ‘Sage and Paige’ both lost, Michele Waterson emerged as a meaningful and marketable contender in the woman’s strawweight division, while Mickey Gall established himself as a fighter with not only a great deal of potential in fighting terms, but also as someone who has the self-confidence and flair on the mic to become a star.
Of course, it should also be noted that UFC On FOX 22 also played host to the retirement fight of a legend in Urijah Faber, which added extra significance to the main card.
