UFC Fight Night 1 on ESPN Sunday night drew 1.463 million viewers per Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily. The prelims which preceded the main card drew 988,000 viewers.
It was the first event for the promotion with its new network partner as the prelims and main card were aired on ESPN. The telecasts went up against the NBA All-Star Game coverage. Per Nielsen, the TNT broadcast of the NBA All-Star Game drew 5.766 million viewers. A secondary broadcast on TBS which aired at the same time as the TNT broadcast added another 1.031 million viewers.
The main card featured the return of former UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez as he fought Francis Ngannou. Unfortunately, Cain went down early in the first round due to a combination of a punch by Ngannou and knee injury. The prelims saw Aljamain Sterling take care of Jimmie Rivera in a matchup of bantamweights.
UFC on ESPN 1 took place at The Talking Stick Resort in Phoenix, Arizona.
Payout Perspective:
Another solid ratings performance by the UFC as it was the biggest UFC Fight Night ratings since January 2016. The main card drew 760,000 viewers in the A18-49 demo while it drew 485,000 during the prelims. In comparison, PBC on Fox Saturday night drew 378,000 in the A18-49 demo. On Friday night, Top Rank Boxing on ESPN drew just 276,000 viewers. The NBA All-Star game on TNT drew 3.124M viewers in the A18-49 demo. The A18-49 demo for the main card is great news for the UFC as one has to imagine it will help them attract major brands to sponsor deals.
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