UFC’s programming on Versus has yet to click the way it does on Spike TV, but the results for Sunday’s “UFC on Versus 4” reached a new level of disappointing.
Nielsen ratings reports for Sunday reveal that UFC on Versus 4 reached a viewership average of 744,000. While that is better than the 681,000 figure for UFC on Versus 3, it actually fell short of a re-run of “UFC Fight Night: Marquardt vs. Palhares” that aired opposite the card that night.
The Spike TV rebroadcast of the Nate Marquardt-headlined “Fight Night,” which represented Spike’s aggressive counter-programming against the Versus card that was to have featured Marquardt in a live main-event, averaged 793,000 viewers.
With UFC in the midst of heated negotiations with Spike TV that reportedly involve the mixed martial arts promotion seeking a significant pay increase, this data certainly hurts UFC’s attempts to develop leverage. As it is, live fight cards on Spike TV could be expected to double the recent Versus numbers, questioning whether Versus, even with the rumored NBC Sports re-branding, will be a suitable “home” for the leading MMA group.
Also interesting is the fact that UFC brand, itself, is not getting over as desired on Versus. Despite significantly less brand visibility, the WEC fight cards that aired on Versus prior to the merger could be expected to land with 200,000 of the UFC on Versus 4 viewership average, indicating that UFC is not performing much higher than the “mainstream MMA baseline” for the network.
