One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
While Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) didn’t think its “Hendricks vs. Thompson” mixed martial arts (MMA) card was strong enough to peddle on pay-per-view (PPV), the gang over at FOX Sports 1 was more than willing to scoop up the “Vegas” leftovers and splatter them across our respective television screens.
The result?
One of the most-watched “Fight Night” cards in the history of the network, according to Dave Meltzer.
The main card averaged 1,317,000 viewers between 10 p.m. and 1:01 a.m. That number made it the fifth most-watched Fight Night since the launch of Fox Sports 1. The prelims, airing from 8-10 p.m. averaged 1,093,000 viewers, which was the second largest for prelims for a Fight Night show in station history. The post-fight show did 535,000 viewers, an all-time record for a pure post-fight show that wasn’t a post fight show that combined with Fox Sports Live.
Not too shabby.
The peak rating of 1,467,000 viewers came with the Ovince Saint Preux decision win over Rafael Cavalcante, according to the report. That has to be good news for all parties involved, especially considering how UFC Fight Night 82 — formerly UFC 196 — came to be.
For much more on last weekend’s UFC Fight Night 82 event in Las Vegas, Nevada, including results, video highlights, reactions, and much more, check out our “Hendricks vs. Thompson” story stream here.