UFC 179 Prelims: 536,000 viewers

MMA Payout has learned from a Nielsen source that the UFC 179 Prelims this past Saturday on FS1 drew an average of 536,000 viewers.  The event which led up to the UFC 179 PPV had stiff competition as it went up against the World Series on Fox.

UFC PPV Prelims since August 2013 (FS1 unless specified)

UFC 164                             809,000

UFC 165                             722,000

UFC 166                             628,000

UFC 167                             998,000

UFC 168                          1,554,000

UFC 169                             933,000

UFC 170                             936,000

UFC 171                             305,000 (FS2)

UFC 172                             750,000

UFC 173                             697,000

UFC 174                             784,000 (FX)

UFC 175                             1,000,000

UFC 177                             436,000

UFC 178                             698,000

UFC 179                               536,000

According to the Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand, the prelims were the 4^th biggest audience for the week on FS1.  Friday night’s college football game between the Oregon Ducks and the California Bears drew the highest average of the week for the network with 1.2 million viewers.

Payout Perspective:

The “main event” of the Prelims was Neil Magny, in his 5^th fight this year, defeating William Macario via TKO in the 3^rd round.  The prelim card did not feature any real names of notice except Scott Jorgenson and perhaps we are getting to know Magny.  Going against the World Series was a tough assignment for the Prelims but I’m sure most of us knew that.  Of notice is that the highest rated event this week on FS1 was Friday night college football with only 1.2 million viewers.