The Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale took place this Friday night in Las Vegas and was headlined by Joanna Jedrzejczyk retaining the UFC women’s strawweight title with a decision victory over Claudia Gadelha.
According to Nielson sources, the main card broadcast on FS1 (10:00p-1:22a ET) had an average live audience of 1,068,000 viewers and the preliminary card (8:00-10:00p ET) drew 642,000 viewers.
The viewership from the main card makes The Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale the most-watched Ultimate Fighter Finale on FS1 since the first fall 2013 season featuring Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate (1,129,000 viewers). It also saw gains of 57 percent in viewers versus last year’s spring Ultimate Fighter Finale (691,000) and among the Adults 18-49 demographic, the viewership was up 68 percent (657,000 vs. 390,000).
The peak viewership of the broadcast came during the 12:45-1a ET quarter hour with 1,325,000 viewers and The Ultimate Fighter Finale coverage led FS1 to the top spot among cable sports networks in total viewership and Adult 18-49 demographic between 8p-1:15a ET.
When it came to the sports competition on cable, the UFC card went up against the NASCAR Xfinity Race on NBCSN (8:35p-10:58p ET) and that drew 995,000 viewers. Other top cable shows on Friday night included Alaskan Bush People (2.8 million, Discovery Channel), Decker: Unclassified (1.135 million, Adult Swim) and CNN Newsroom (1.811 million, CNN).
The ratings history of UFC Fight Night cards in 2016 on FS1 are below.
UFC Fight Night 81: 2,228,000
UFC Fight Night 82: 1,317,000
UFC Fight Night 83: 983,000
UFC Fight Night 85: 1,149,000
UFC Fight Night 86: 781,000
UFC Fight Night 87: 656,000
UFC Fight Night 88: 757,000
UFC Fight Night 89: 964,000
TUF 23 Finale: 1,086,000