UFC 221 preliminaries viewership data is in.
The FOX Sports 1 (FS1) broadcast drew 697,000 viewers (via MMAFighting.com). The prelims peaked at 821,000 viewers for the bout between “Maestro” Dong Hyun Kim and Damien Brown.
In addition to the FS1 broadcast, 8,022 viewers saw the card through FOX Now and the FOX Sports Go streaming service.
Preliminary action led into the main card, which aired live on pay-per-view. It was headlined by a middleweight clash between Yoel Romero and Luke Rockhold. The rest of the card was lacking in star power.
While preliminary numbers can be seen as an indicator of how well pay-per-views will do, it’s important to note the competition. The sports world is currently being dominated by the Winter Olympics, which drew 21,394,000 viewers. In addition to that, an NBA western conference game between the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs drew 2,781,000. College basketball on ESPN took in 1,308,000 viewers.
Check out MMANews.com for the event’s results, highlights, interviews, post-fight press conference and more.
Okay fight fans, now is your chance to be heard. What do you think of the viewership numbers for the UFC 221 prelims? Are they higher or lower than you expected? Tell us in the comments below and don’t forget to stick with us for live coverage of UFC Austin on Feb. 18.
