The first big fight weekend of 2018 took place last weekend as the UFC and Bellator both held fight cards on Saturday and the television viewership numbers came in early today with both cards peaking over 1 million viewers.
According to Nielson Media Research, the UFC 220 preliminary card on FS1 drew 905,000 viewers and peaked at 1,048,000 viewers in the 8:45-9:00 p.m. ET quarter hour. When it comes to the Bellator 192 ratings, the combined viewership on Paramount Network and CMT was 931,000 viewers (770k on Paramount Network, 161k on CMT) and peaked at 1,340,000 viewers during the main event bout between Chael Sonnen and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
Additional information on viewership for UFC 220 and Bellator 192:
– Bellator 192 is the most-watched Bellator show since Bellator 170 (1/21/17).
– The viewership on Paramount Network ranked #3 with Men 18-49 and #4 Men 18-34 in all of cable.
– The UFC 220 prelims and the Bellator 192 broadcast went head-to-head from 9:00-10:00 p.m. ET and the UFC card beat Bellator by 59% (909,000 vs. 573,0000).
– On the digital side of the UFC 220 preliminary card broadcast, the telecast had an average minute audience of 11,009 on FSGO and FOX Now.
– The UFC 220 Prefight Show had 286,000 viewers while the Postfight Show posted 193,000 viewers.
The UFC and Bellator will both return to cable television this week as Bellator 193 will take place on Friday night on Paramount Network (9 p.m. ET) and FS1 will have coverage of the UFC on FOX 27 preliminary card on Saturday (5 p.m ET).