UFC on FOX 26 does lowest December ratings in series history

Last night’s UFC on FOX show headlined by Rafael dos Anjos’ win over Robbie Lawler, with a welterweight title shot at stake, did 1.78 million viewers on the fast nationals, which would be the lowest December rating in the history of the series and third lowest ever.

The Winnipeg show was down 34 percent from last year’s unusually high fast nationals number for a card featuring Michelle Waterson vs. Paige VanZant and Urijah Faber’s retirement fight against Brad Pickett.

While that’s not a fair comparison, it was down 21-22 percent from the first reported figure for the 2013 to 2015 shows at the same time of the year.

Lawler in particular is a well known fighter, a former welterweight champion who has been pushed as a star since he was a teenager in UFC, Strikeforce, and Elite XC, winning UFC and Elite XC titles. He’s also won an unprecedented three straight matches of the year, with his 2014 fight with Johny Hendricks, his 2015 fight with Rory MacDonald, and his 2016 fight with Carlos Condit. Dos Anjos is a former lightweight champion who is unbeaten as a welterweight.

Dos Anjos won a five-round decision to make him the top contender for Tyron Woodley’s belt.

The fast nationals only measure 8-10 p.m. for FOX, and also don’t measure the West Coast since it covers prime time and the fight airing live on the West Coast was out of what is considered prime time. The final three rounds of the main event aired after 10 p.m. so the final number should grow to closer to 2 million.