While the reviews were not glowing for the latest installment of “UFC Primetime,” which largely lacked the intensity of the previous Quinton Jackson-Rashad Evans episodes, the third and final episode of the Brock Lesnar-Cain Velasquez hype special drew a big audience.
Conveniently sandwiched between the televised version of the UFC 116 pay-per-view card and a new episode of “The Ultimate Fighter,” the UFC 121 promotional tool garnered a strong 1.203 million viewers Wednesday night, which would be one of UFC’s top-rated preview show numbers of all time. The show did a 0.6 rating among adults 18-49.
Following a disappointing buyrate for UFC 119 and a disappointing television rating for UFC 120, UFC is banking on Saturday’s pay-per-view, which features a heavyweight title bout between Lesnar and Velasquez, Jake Shields vs. Martin Kampmann and Tito Ortiz vs. Matt Hamill, delivering a big buyrate to generate favorable momentum for the end of the year.
The UFC 116 special, which featured Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin in the main event, posted a 0.6 adults 18-49 rating with 1.196 million viewers. “TUF” scored a 1.0 with 1.678 million viewers, which provided ample lead-in support for “Blue Mountain State” (0.6 demo rating, 1.094 million viewers).
Ratings Source: Mediaweek
