This weekends UFC 159 FX Prelim show’s ratings are in and they were down roughly 12% from UFC 158.
According to multiple sources, the UFC 159 preliminary card landed at 1.382 million viewers. UFC 156 still remains as the top getter with 1.897 million total back a few months ago.
It should also be noted that the FX prelim show wasn’t exactly normal, as a fight dropped off the card due to weight issues and viewers were treated to several confusing finishes.
When it came to FUEL TV, it once again shined. The UFC 159 Post Fight show which ran at about 12:56 a.m. was FUEL TV’s second highest and second most watched ever with a 0.34 HH rating, 159k total viewers. It also allowed FUEL TV to finish with the highest rated and most watched month ever for the network. Posting gains of +75% in HH’s, +67% in total viewers and +56% in M18-49 versus last April.
Now, when it came to direct national network competition for the preliminary card on FX, the UFC went up against Nascar Sprint Cup racing from Richmond on its parent network Fox. Nascar landed at 5.601 million viewers and won the night in the adult 18-49 category landing at a 1.4. The rest of the networks all did quite well with CBS landing in second place average 3.401 million viewers and a #2 in the adult 18-49 category landing at about 0.7.
The UFC also went up against the highest rated Saturday NBA playoff game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Houston Rockets. The game which started near the tale end of the UFC on FX prelim earned 3.3 million viewers on ESPN — up 46% from Spurs/Jazz Game 3 on TNT last year (2.2M), but down 11% from Thunder/Nuggets Game 3 in 2011 (3.7M).