UFC 213 Prelims Bring In Lowest Ratings Since 2014
The viewership numbers are in for the UFC 213 prelims. If you thought International Fight Week had a lack of buzz, it’s safe to say that you were not alone and we have the ratings to back up that statement.
The prelims, which were headlined by Travis Browne vs. Oleksiy Oliynyk, pulled in 657,000 viewers. This is down from the UFC 212 prelims that did 732,000 viewers with Raphael Assuncao and former WSOF champ Marlon Moraes being the featured prelim.
This marks the lowest number for prelims before a pay-per-view show dating back to UFC 179, which was nearly three years ago on Oct. 25, 2014, when the prelims before the Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes featherweight title bout did 536,000 viewers. The previous low for 2017 was for UFC 2011, which did 723,000 viewers back on May 13, with Eddie Alvarez vs. Dustin Poirier being the featured prelim.
The prelims for this event peaked during the Oleinik vs. Browne bout at 732,000 viewers. This is down from last year’s UFC 200 prelims, which drew 1,786,000 viewers. Granted, the UFC stacked that card so much to the point where it featured Kelvin Gastelum vs. Johny Hendricks, Julianna Pena vs. Cat Zingano and T.J. Dillashaw vs. Raphael Assuncao on the prelims.
This should be concerning for the UFC as the promotion used to have its biggest audience between 18 and 34. However, that is no longer the case as the pay-per-view prelims had stronger numbers among viewers over the age of 50 than in either 18-34 or 18-49 categories.
UFC 213 took place on Saturday, July 8, 2017, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas Nevada. The prelims aired on UFC Fight Pass at 6:30 p.m. ET and FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET. Five bouts including two title bouts took place on the main card that aired on pay-per-view event at  10 p.m. ET.
The show did have to go up against stiff competition. The NASCAR race on NBC Sports Network did 2,710,000 viewers, baseball on FOX did 2,539,000 viewers, and Summer League basketball on ESPN did 1,106,000 viewers. The pre-fight show drew 219,000 viewers, and the post-fight show did 206,000 viewers.
Fight fans get ready because the UFC is bringing you, even more, action this weekend. UFC Fight Night 113 takes place on Sunday, July 16th at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland. The event will be the second that the promotion has hosted in Glasgow, following UFC Fight Night: Bisping vs. Leites in July 2015. The preliminary bouts will air on UFC Fight Pass at noon ET and FOX Sports 1 at 1 p.m. ET. The six-bout main card will air on FOX Sports 1 at 3 p.m. ET.
