Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) recently held one of its strongest pay-per-view (PPV) fight cards of the year, courtesy of the UFC 241: “Cormier vs. Miocic 2” mixed martial arts (MMA) event last Sat. night (Aug. 17, 2019) inside Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
Unfortunately for the promotion, that appeal did not carry over to the preliminary card, which drew a “disappointing” 817,000 viewers on ESPN. That’s according to veteran ratings expert Dave Meltzer, who indicates the four-fight line up finished sixth out of the eight “Prelims” cards offered on the “Worldwide Leader In Sports” in 2019.
ESPN won the time slot in males 18-34 and 18-49, but overall finished behind the Kansas City vs. Pittsburgh preseason football game on the NFL Network (1,660,000), as well as NASCAR on NBC Sports Network (2,503,000).
The UFC 241 “Prelims” peaked at 949,000 viewers, who tuned in to watch Khama Worthy score a first-round knockout finish over fellow lightweight Devonte Smith (watch the video highlights here).
For much more on UFC 241 click here.