The final UFC on FOX 5 numbers were up significantly from the overnight estimates, scoring an average of 4.4 million viewers for the broadcast which lasted about two-and-a-half hours.
That number was up 83 percent over FOX’s August event, which drew 2.4 million viewers.
The broadcast peaked in the last half-hour, as 5.7 million tuned in to watch the exciting lightweight championship fight between Benson Henderson and challenger Nate Diaz.
The original overnight ratings, which only covered the 8-10 p.m. ET block and did not take into account the live west coast showing, estimated an audience of 3.41 million.
The show did well in its targeted demographics, scoring a 3.5 rating among men aged 18-34, which would place it third in the week in primetime behind NBC’s Sunday Night Football game and a FOX episode of The Simpsons.
The audience built up as the night went along, with 3.6 million tuning in for the kickoff match between Mike Swick and Matt Brown, 4.3 million watching Rory MacDonald beat B.J. Penn, and 4.5 million viewing the Alexander Gustafsson vs. Mauricio Rua fight.
According to FOX, Las Vegas led the nation in viewership with a 6.3 rating.
UFC on FOX 1 still holds the highest ratings under the FOX deal, as 5.7 million checked in to watch a one-fight broadcast pitting Junior dos Santos against Cain Velasquez for the UFC heavyweight championship.