So much for quality fights being a ticket to great numbers on FOX.
Saturday’s UFC on FOX 3, which featured a low-profile main-event matchup between Nate Diaz and Jim Miller, garnered just a 1.0 adults 18-49 rating with 2.3 million viewers. There is a chance for a slight upward adjustment once the live west coast airing is taken into account, but it will not be enough to salvage this disastrous number.
The show’s performance in both the key demo and total viewership trails the average from the prior two UFC on FOX specials by more than 50%.
Speaking to Headline Planet last week, UFC President Dana White had maintained that this was not a step down from the prior FOX card, which featured Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis and Michael Bisping vs. Chael Sonnen as its co-main-events. Clearly, fans felt otherwise, as the lineup of Diaz vs. Miller, Josh Koscheck vs. Johny Hendricks, Alan Belcher vs. Rousimar Palhares and Lavar Johnson vs. Pat Barry was not a draw.
It was, however, a very exciting lineup and made for UFC’s most entertaining FOX card by a country mile.
Though ratings for the NBA game are not yet in, it definitely got crushed in the head-to-head battle with the Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Dallas Mavericks game. It also failed to win the night in the key demo–the 10PM airing of “48 Hours Mystery” on CBS scored a 1.3 rating.