It’s no secret that Demetrious Johnson has not been a smash hit when headlining UFC pay-per-views. Last week, the UFC flyweight champion’s unanimous decision win over Tim Elliott was his first ever main event spot on Fox Sports 1, and his first time off of PPV since KOing Joseph Benavidez in December 2013 at UFC on FOX 9.
How did the TUF 24 Finale fare in terms of television ratings? Fox Sports 1 execs are surely pleased that the card averaged over a million viewers, and peaked during the Johnson vs. Elliott fight. Dave Meltzer of MMA Fighting has the details.
“Saturday night’s The Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale show, headlined by a championship match featuring UFC flyweight titleholder Demetrious Johnson, drew 1,032,000 viewers, the UFC’s best number on FOX Sports 1 in more than two months.
The double headliner of Johnson vs. Tim Elliott for the flyweight title and a top contenders battle of Joseph Benavidez vs. Henry Cejudo did the sixth-best number of the 16 prime time shows this year. It was the best since the Sept. 24 show headlined by Cris Cyborg vs. Lina Lansberg that did 1,109,000 viewers. The number was up 17 percent from the similar show last December, which had both Frankie Edgar vs. Chad Mendes and Tony Ferguson vs. Edson Barboza, and did 883,000 viewers.
Ratings for TUF 24 Finale peaked with the Johnson vs. Elliott main event, which did 1,170,000 viewers.”
Very encouraging viewing figures given how oft-discussed Mighty Mouse’s historical lack of drawing power has been, even including the last two big FOX cards he headlined. This event did get the benefit of advertisements on NFL and College Football telecasts on the various FOX networks, and we’ll soon see whether or not DJ will get more cable TV main events, or if it’s back to PPV for him, whether as the main event, or a co-main to a higher-drawing main event.
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