UFC Fight Night 96 took place this past Saturday night at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon and was headlined by John Lineker winning his sixth straight fight as he defeated former flyweight title challenger John Dodson by split decision.
According to Nielson sources, the preliminary card on FS2 (9-11p ET) averaged 294,000 viewers and the main card on FS1 (11p-1:26a ET) came in with 657,000 viewers. The peak viewership of the broadcast came during the Lineker vs. Dodson fight in the 1-1:15a ET quarter hour with 831,000 viewers and the post fight show on FS1 (1:26a-2:15a ET) drew 250,000 viewers.
When it came to the sports competition on Saturday night, the UFC Fight Night 96 card went up against multiple college football games including the Louisville vs. Clemson game on ABC. That game came in with an average audience of 9,294,000 viewers and the game did not end till 12:06 a.m. ET.
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
UFC Fight Night 91: 601,000
UFC Fight Night 92: 863,000
UFC Fight Night 94: 826,000
UFC Fight Night 95: 1,109,000
UFC Fight Night 96: 657,000