The UFC 244 prelims had a strong showing considering it was aired on ESPN2.
This past Saturday night (Nov. 2), UFC 244 took place inside Madison Square Garden in New York City. Headlining the pay-per-view was a welterweight clash between Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz. The two were competing for the special BMF championship. Masvidal scored a third-round TKO victory via doctor’s stoppage.
UFC 244 Preliminary Viewership Average Revealed
The UFC 244 prelims brought in an average of 910,000 viewers on ESPN2 (via MMAFighting.com). The UFC 244 prelims featured notable names such as Andrei Arlovski, Corey Anderson, and Johnny Walker. The prelims peaked at 1,121,000 viewers for Anderson vs. Walker. Anderson ended up scoring a first-round TKO win.
The prelims were up against some decent sports competition, but nothing like the brutal October schedule. The UFC 244 prelims went head-to-head with the Oregon vs. USC college football game on FOX (3,433,000 viewers) and Southern Methodist vs. Memphis on ABC (2,947,000 viewers).
In its timeslot, the prelims were only beaten by a college football game between Ole Miss and Auburn. That game was aired on ESPN
MMA News provided coverage of UFC 244. Peep the homepage for results, highlights, and all the post-fight goodness.