Saturday’s night’s UFC on FOX show, powered by a strong last two fights, was the highest rated of the UFC’s four annual summer specials on the network.
The full two-and-half-hour show did a 1.7 rating and 2,756,000 viewers, peaking with a 2.4 rating and 3.8 million viewers for the T.J. Dillashaw title defense against Renan Barao. The three prior July shows on FOX did either a 1.4 or 1.5 rating, and between 2.38 and 2.5 million viewers. The main event would have also been the most watched UFC fight of those four shows.
The event was the most-watched sports program on television for the day, and led FOX to winning the night in both the Male 18-49 and Adults 18-49 demographics.
The overall rating was up 13 percent from last year’s show headlined by Robbie Lawler vs. Matt Brown. The Dillashaw vs. Barao main event was up 12 percent from last year.
The card drew consistent growth from start-to-finish.
For the main card, Joe Lauzon vs. Takanori Gomi drew a 1.3 rating, which increased to a 1.6 for Edson Barboza vs. Paul Felder, and a 2.0 for Miesha Tate vs. Jessica Eye.
The prelims from 6-8 p.m. did a 0.9 rating and 1.3 million viewers. The number was almost identical to the prior time that FOX aired the prelims, also last July, which did a 0.8 rating and 1.3 million viewers.