UFC Pittsburgh Sees Slight Increase In Viewership Numbers

The viewership numbers for UFC Fight Night 116 (UFC Pittsburgh) have been released.

Although the UFC booked a former champion in the main event against a fighter who has been on fire as of late, the viewership was solid. UFC Fight Night 116 averaged 872,000 viewers, which is up from what UFC Fight Night 114 averaged (819,000 viewers).

The show peaked in the main event that saw UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold finish David Branch by TKO with 1,118,000 viewers, which is up from UFC Fight Night 114 that peaked at 905,000 viewers. Keep in mind that the main event took place after the conclusion of the Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin boxing match, which was the biggest sporting event of the night and aired on pay-per-view. UFC Pittsburgh also averaged 8,375 viewers per minute via Fox Sports Go streaming.

The event also had to go up against the Texas vs. USC game on FOX that did 4,912,000 viewers, and a Clemson vs. Louisville game on ABC did 5,064,000 viewers. By looking at the numbers, the show landed in sixth place out of the ten prime time live events on FOX Sports 1 this year.

The prelims averaged 653,000 viewers, which is up from the UFC Fight Night 114 prelims that averaged 633,000 viewers. The pre-fight show averaged 224,000 viewers while the post-fight show did 361,000 viewers. This is a good sign as people were interested in sticking around for fight analysis or interviews.

Fight fans will not have to wait long for more UFC action as UFC Fight Night 117 takes place on Friday, September 22, 2017, at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The six bout main card airs on FXX at 10 p.m. ET. A light heavyweight rematch between Yushin Okami and Ovince Saint Preux will headline this event.