UFC Argentina ‘Prelims’ Ratings Top Main Card Numbers

The Bellator 209 tape-delay on Paramount returned 381,000 viewers.

So here’s a situation that is equal parts amusing and alarming.

The UFC Fight Night 140 mixed martial arts (MMA) event, which took place last Sat. night (Nov. 17, 2018) inside Parque Roca Arena in Buenos Aires, Argentina, somehow went in reverse, at least in terms of ratings.

The FOX Sports 1 “Prelims” actually outdrew the “Magny vs. Ponzinibbio” main card.

That’s according to Dave Meltzer at MMA Fighting, who attributes the declining numbers to college football. Michigan vs. Indiana, which drew 2,273,000 viewers, ended pretty much at the start of the UFC Argentina broadcast and gave the key demographic a reason to stick around.

Except they didn’t.

That means casual fans who got a sample of what the world’s largest mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion was offering didn’t like what they saw, or perhaps they got bored, or maybe both. Either way, the numbers went from hot, to lukewarm, to cold.

Here’s a look at the averages:

UFC Argentina pre-fight show: 1,168,000 viewers
UFC Argentina prelims card: 707,000 viewers
UFC Argentina main card: 632,000 viewers

Last week’s UFC card on FOX Sports 1, headlined by Chan Sung Jung vs. Yair Rodriguez, drew 840,000 viewers.

Considering the name value atop the UFC Argentina card, the ratings are not a disaster and far from the worst of the year; however, it’s not a good sign when the key demographic is not interested in the product.

I know we beat the same drum in every ratings report, but it’s hard for those fans outside the (hard)core audience to sit through telecasts that run well past midnight and feature 17,342 commercial breaks. The pacing sucks, it’s sucked since day one, and will probably still suck after the changing of the guard, according to this report.

For complete UFC Argentina results and play-by-play click here.