UFC Vegas Does Relatively Well Despite Competition
UFC Vegas averaged just over a million viewers.
The event took place this past Saturday night at the Apex facility and was headlined by a welterweight showdown between former champion Tyron Woodley and rising contender Gilbert Burns which saw victory for the latter.
And according to the Nielsen Ratings System (via MMA Fighting), the event averaged 1.021 million viewers over the course of the three-hour broadcast on ESPN. That put it in the top 20 for overall cable ratings for the day with the card also averaging a .42 rating in the 18-49 demographic.
Given that it faced competition from the SpaceX launch — which averaged 4.633 million viewers — as well as coverage from the ongoing George Floyd protests taking place nationwide, that is a decent number. It should also be noted that the event was simulcast on ESPN+ whose ratings are not separately released.
Overall, UFC Vegas landed in fifth spot out of the nine dedicated ESPN cards in terms of average viewership. The highest remains the first show which took place in February last year that saw the return of Cain Velasquez against Francis Ngannou. That card averaged 1.463 million viewers.
What do you make of the UFC Vegas viewing numbers?