The MMA Report

Ratings Report: UFC Fight Night 112 peaks at 905k viewers during Penn vs. Siver and Chiesa vs. Lee

UFC Fight Night 112 took place on Sunday night on FS1 from the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and was headlined by a lightweight bout as Kevin Lee score a controversial submission victory over Michael Chiesa.

When it comes to the television viewership for the fight card, the preliminary card on FS2 (7p-9p ET) came in with 319,000 viewers and this number is up 2 percent over the UFC Fight Night preliminary card that aired on FS2 last June (312,000 on 6/18/16). In addition, the UFC Fight Night 112 prelims on FS2 were the second-most viewed non-pay-per-view preliminary card in FS2 history and was up 8 percent in the Adult 18-49 demographic (157,000 vs. 145,000).

Following the conclusion of the preliminary card, the main card aired on FS1 (9p-12a ET) came in with 819,000 viewers and this is up 8 percent over FS1’s Sunday night UFC Fight Night in second quarter of 2016 (757,000, 5/29/16), according to Nielsen. The card was also up 12 percent in the Adult 18-49 demographic (427,000 vs. 381,000) and the UFC Fight Night 112 viewership helped drive FS1 to the number one dedicated sports network in total day for Sunday among total viewers and Adult 18-49.

The peak viewership for UFC Fight Night 112 came during the 9:15-9:30p ET and 11:30-11:45p ET with 905,000 viewers in both of those quarter hours. The first peak viewership came during the featherweight bout between B.J. Penn and Dennis Siver, and the second time the viewership drew 905,000 viewers came during the main event bout between Lee and Chiesa. After the main card concluded, the post fight show on FS1 came in with 268,000 viewers.

The UFC will return to FS1 next week for coverage of The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale and UFC 213.  The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale will take place on Friday, July 7 and will be headlined by a lightweight bout as former WSOF lightweight champion Justin Gaethje makes his UFC debut against Michael Johnson. Then on Saturday, July 8, the television preliminary card for UFC 213 will air on FS1 and the featured bout will be a heavyweight matchup as Travis Browne faces Aleksei Oleinik.