UFC Fight Night 82 took place this Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and was headlined by Stephen Thompson defeating former UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks by knockout in the first round.
According to Nielson sources, the main card broadcast on FS1 had an average live audience of 1,317,000 viewers and the peak viewership for the event came during the 11:45 p.m. to 12 a.m. ET quarter hour with 1,467,000 viewers.
The average viewership of 1,317,000 viewers for the six fight main card is now the 5th most-watched UFC Fight Night in FS1 history and the show saw increases of 25 percent over last February’s FS1 UFC Fight Night average on viewership (1,317,000 vs. 1,052,000).
Along with the main card being televised on FS1, the televised preliminary card was also on the cable sports network. The two hour preliminary card averaged 1,093,000 viewers and this is the 2nd most-watched UFC Fight Night preliminary card in FS1 history (#1 is UFC Fight Night 81 with 1,767,000 viewers).
Following the conclusion of the main card, the post fight show aired on FS1 and drew 535,000 viewers. The viewership of the post fight show in the most-watched dedicated UFC Post Fight Show (not part of FOX Sports Live).
When it came to the competition on Saturday night on cable, the night was won by the NBA game on ESPN with 3.230 million viewers. Other top programs included College Basketball on ESPN (1.741 million) and SportsCenter at 11:41 p.m. ET with 1.649 million viewers.
The UFC will return to FS1 on February 21 for UFC Fight Night 83 and the televised preliminary card and main card will air live on the cable sports network.