UFC Newark Draws Lowest ESPN Fight Night Ratings To Date

UFC Newark, also known as UFC on ESPN 5, did not do well on TV ratings.

According to the always reliable Dave Meltzer of MMA Fighting, the card averaged 680,000 viewers but did peak at 945,000 during the main event. While the prelims averaged 523,000 viewers.

Of course, UFC Newark saw a pivotal main event fight with Colby Covington taking on Robbie Lawler. There, should “Chaos” win he would be getting a title shot, so the stakes were high. Ultimately, he did exactly that as he dominated “Ruthless” and won every round on all judge’s scorecards.

The lead-up to the fight was also intense as Covington really sold the fight well. But, it obviously wasn’t enough to attract more viewers. However, the card did air during the day time, prelims at noon eastern, on a Saturday so it is possible people were out. Comparing that to the Philadelphia card which was an early evening card, averaged 828,000 viewers.

UFC Newark was also not the most stacked show, as, on the main card, there were no ranked fighters other than the main event. Yet, something going UFC Newark’s way is the fact that it beat the baseball game between the New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox during the same time slot.

Are you surprised by the low numbers brought in by UFC Newark?