UFC 123 Prelims on Spike TV In Line With Series’ Average Ratings

Brian Foster and Matt Brown at UFC 123

Good or bad, any television show that has been on air for an extended amount of time tends to settle into its audience. It appears that the UFC’s live preliminary bout telecast on Spike TV has developed such a standard.

Spike TV officials on Tuesday released the ratings for “UFC 123 Prelims Live,” noting an average audience of 1.5 million viewers. That number is right in line with the series’ average since its inception with UFC 103.

The “UFC 123 Prelims Live” featured Matt Brown vs. Brian Foster in a welterweight bout, as well as a middleweight contest between Mark Munoz and Aaron Simpson.

Including UFC 123, the series averages slight more than 1.4 million viewers per episode. The series peaked at UFC 109 with 1.7 million viewers on average, while UFC 118 marks the series low at 1.1 million.

Mark Munoz and Aaron Simpson UFC 123

The “UFC Prelim Live” series has been used as a launching pad to try and get fans to purchase the pay-per-views, while also serving up strong numbers for Spike TV in the key advertiser demographics of Men 18-35 and Men 18-49.

Each episode normally features one or more fighters that took part in “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series, which has been a strong series on Spike TV and helped launch the UFC into the mainstream spotlight.