Sunday’s UFC Fight Night from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan did 796,000 viewers, about 12-percent lower than a normal prime time Fight Night show would do this year.
Although Sunday has been a good day in the past for UFC events on FS1, this week’s show from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan did below average numbers.
UFC Fight Night 74, headlined by a disappointing 99-second main event with Max Holloway vs. Charles Oliveira, was weak on star power overall. It did 796,000 viewers, the third-lowest for a prime time Fight Night show on FS1 so far this year. That is 12-percent below the year-to-date prime time average (not including the Conor McGregor fight in January) of 901,000 viewers. It did beat the 689,000 viewers for the same weekend last year with the Benson Henderson vs. Rafael dos Anjos main event.
Sunday’s event actually peaked early, with the high point being 970,000 viewers for the Olivier Aubin-Mercier vs. Tony Sims fight.
Most of the show went head-to-head with an NFL preseason game with the St. Louis Rams vs. Tennessee Titans on FOX, which drew 5.41 million viewers, as well as WWE’s third-biggest event of the year, SummerSlam. That aired on WWE’s streaming network and pay-per-view, and was headlined by a Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker rematch that got considerable mainstream sports publicity during the week.
The main event, which promised to be an action fight, ending early, didn’t help the overall number. But that type of fight was unlikely to move ratings significantly, because Holloway and Oliveira aren’t well known names to the general public.
The prelims did 542,000 viewers, down from the 580,000 average for prime time shows on FS1 since February.
All ratings numbers are according to Neilsen.