The Ultimate Fighting Championship can expect a lot more counter-programming for the rest of 2012 with any of their live events being shown on the FOX-owned network, being countered by Spike TV.
This past Friday (Jan. 20, 2012) was another example of that, as the first UFC event on FX took place at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. The UFC on FX: Guillard vs. Miller show averaged 1.3 million viewers for the four bout main card, while the six bout (three hour long) prelim card on FUEL TV saw an average of 148,000 viewers tune in. The event was headlined by a lightweight bout between Melvin Guillard and Jim Miller.
While on Spike TV, the former home of UFC programming, saw the network counter-program the FX show with a “UFC Unleashed” series of shows mainly focused on Guillard highlights, all starting at 7pm EST and carrying on until midnight. The series averaged 699,500 viewers during the two hour counter-programming slot that the live FX show aired.
Spike still owns the library rights for the UFC until the end of the year, so fans will continue to see busy nights whenever the promotion hosts a live event on the FOX network.
Check out MMAjunkie.com for more details, and a breakdown, of the numbers of the UFC on FX event.