Weekend MMA TV ratings: UFC rebounds while Bellator draws near-record low

Last Saturday’s UFC Fight Night Mexico City main card, headlined by Tony Ferguson’s five round decision win over former lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos, averaged 860,000 viewers.

The four fight main card was up 31% from the last Fight Night show in October (John Lineker vs. John Dodson). The prelims, which also aired on FS1, did an average of 668,000 viewers — the second highest number for a Fight Night prelims show since March.

For the year, UFC is now averaging 994,000 viewers for FS1 Fight Night events, up 10% from 2015’s average. The prelims are also up, growing 21% with a 739,000 average this year, up from 610,000 last year.

In other ratings news, despite being headlined by Phil Davis vs. Liam McGeary for the light heavyweight title, last Friday’s Bellator 163 drew a near-record low of 507,000 viewers on Spike TV.

That was the second lowest number of 2016, beating only June’s Bellator 156 show which did 482,000. Prior to that you, you would have to go all the way back to 2013 (the promotion’s first year on Spike) to find other shows that failed to break 500,000 viewers of which they had two.

The two promotions return to TV this weekend with UFC 205 on PPV Saturday with the high-profile prelims on FS1. Bellator 164’s show from Tel Aviv, Israel, will air on tape delay Friday on Spike TV.