If you missed out on watching UFC 218, here’s your Christmas gift.
For the second time in a year, a Max Holloway-headlined pay-per-view will get a special early re-broadcast on television.
MMA Fighting’s Dave Meltzer has details on UFC 218 being shown on FS1 this Christmas Eve:
The UFC was able to make a deal with its pay-per-view providers to allow a television broadcast of UFC 218, the Dec. 2 show of Detroit, which will air on FOX Sports 1 on Dec 24, a Sunday night, from 10 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. Normally, there is a 30-day window for UFC after the pay-per-view is live before it can air on television.
At one point, there was talk of airing UFC 217, the Madison Square Garden show, with Georges St-Pierre’s win over Michael Bisping, in that time slot, because of the 30-day window.
Last year, UFC 206: Holloway vs. Pettis aired live on FOX, also on Christmas Eve. The two-hour broadcast averaged 4.7 million viewers, with the NFL on FOX serving as a great lead-in.
This year, the PPV replay has shifted to FS1, so there won’t be a direct lead-in from the NFL on FOX this year, although we surely should see some advertisements this weekend.
It’s also a great opportunity for the UFC to market Francis Ngannou, who is challenging Stipe Miocic for the heavyweight title on January 20th. Ngannou viciously knocked out Alistair Overeem in the UFC 218 co-main event, thus cementing a title shot. Fans who were enthralled by Eddie Alvarez’s win over Justin Gaethje will also see that bout replayed. Hopefully Alex Oliveira vs. Yancy Medeiros also gets shown, as that was the craziest fight on the evening.