UFC 236 Prelims Suffer Major Dropoff From Previous Two PPVs
The numbers for the UFC 236 pay-per-view (PPV) preliminary card are in.
MMA Fighting’s Dave Meltzer reports that the UFC 236 prelims averaged 893,000 viewers on ESPN prior to the PPV. This is a major dropoff from the past two PPV events. UFC 235, headlined by Jon Jones vs. Anthony Smith for the light heavyweight championship, turned in an average viewership number of 1,339,000.
At UFC 234, the prelims averaged 1,480,000 viewers, as the card was headlined by Anderson Silva vs. Israel Adesanya. UFC 234 was likely boosted by the strong college basketball viewership carried over in the lead-in.
However, UFC 236’s low preliminary numbers don’t come as too much of a surprise. The preliminary card simply lacked star power, as it was headlined by a lightweight bout between Matt Frevola and Jalin Turner. Perhaps the most notable name on the card was Wilson Reis, who was defeated by Alexandre Pantoja via first-round TKO just before the headliner.
