UFC 204 prelims do lowest ratings in over a year

The prelims for UFC 204 on FS1 were watched by only 678,000 viewers on Saturday night.

This was the lowest number for a PPV prelims show on FS1 since UFC 191 did 663,000 viewers in September 2015. PPV prelim numbers are often, but not always, a good indicator of PPV buyrates and the UFC 191 show did approximately 115,000 buys.

There were no big names on Saturday’s FS1 show as the featured bout was a bantamweight fight between veterans Iuri Alcantara and England’s Brad Pickett. The number was down 22% from the UFC 203 prelims in September and 39% below the year-to-date average for FS1 PPV prelims, which now stands at 1,104,000 after nine shows.

As Dave Meltzer reported Sunday, the show did about 500,000 Google searches, which is in the normal range for a UFC PPV. There was also less feedback for this show than normal.

After a run of weekly shows, the UFC is now idle until the November 5th TUF Latin America season three finale in Mexico City on November 5th, headlined by former lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos taking on Tony Ferguson.