Saturday’s UFC on FOX show, headlined by Demetrious Johnson vs. Joseph Benavidez, did a 1.8 national rating and 2.8 million total viewers when the ratings that figured in the entire show and accurately gauged West Coast viewership came in. Its strongest markets were Tulsa, which did a 3.7, and Sacramento, which did a 2.8.
It was the lowest for a UFC on FOX event of the five held so far during football season. Ratings are traditionally the highest when the show’s are promoted during FOX’s NFL and college football broadcasts, which hit the adult male target demographic so strongly.
It was the least-watched network show of the night overall, even though it was also the only first-run program on network TV that night. But it placed second to CBS’ kids oriented Christmas programming in the overall 18-49 demographic, and won the night in Males 18-34, Males 18-49 and overall 18-34.
The rating was down 26 percent and overall viewership down 34 percent from Johnson’s Jan. 26 main event against John Dodson, a show helped greatly by Quinton “Rampage” Jackson fighting in the semifinal against Glover Teixeira. It was up 20 percent in ratings and 18 percent in viewers from the Johnson vs. John Moraga show on July 27, but a show during football season should beat a show during the summer.