UFC Argentina Prelims Ratings Beat Main Card Numbers
A college football game between Michigan & Indiana was responsible for the UFC Argentina prelims drawing more viewers than the main card last Saturday (Nov. 17, 2018) night.
The UFC Argentina prelim headliner between Michel Prazeres and Bartosz Fabinski drew 707,000 viewers. That is the best number for prelims on FOX Sports 1 since the first FS1 show of 2018.
The main card headliner saw Argentina’s own Santiago Ponzinibbio take out the No.8 ranked Neil Magny. The bout averaged just 632,000 viewers.
The ratings steadily declined throughout the show leading many to think the audience was still being boosted by the big number from the football game that ended some two hours earlier.
Cynthia Calvillo’s first-round submission win over Poliana Botelho was the most-watched match on the main card. It drew 715,000 viewers.
The main card averaged 11,804 viewers via streaming services.
By contrast, the Michigan vs. Indiana game did 2,273,000 viewers. The college football game was the lead-in for UFC and the second-most watched college game of the season on FS1. The game ended at 7:55 p.m. and the Fight Night coverage started at 8 p.m. The five-minute pre-fight show on FS1 did 1,168,000 viewers, unreal numbers for a pre-fight show.
The prelims and the beginning of the main card went against college football on ABC, FOX, ESPN, and ESPN 2. ABC’s Cincinnati vs. UCF game lead the night with 3,098,000 viewers.
