Source: UFC on Fox 4 Averaged 2.4 Million Viewers, Fuel TV Prelims Drew 194,000

The viewership matches the number put forth by UFC on Fox 3, which took place May 5 at Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J. Headlined by a light heavyweight showdown between former champion Mauricio Rua and Brandon Vera, UFC on Fox 4 earned a household rating of 1.44.

The Aug. 4 event also saw Lyoto Machida earn a shot at light heavyweight gold by knocking out Ryan Bader with a devastating counter right straight in the evening's co-main event. A “Fight of the Night” winning lightweight scrap between Joe Lauzon and Jamie Varner was also featured on the Fox broadcast, as was Mike Swick’s second-round knockout of DaMarques Johnson.

Though the reported figure equals the mark set by UFC on Fox 3, the UFC on Fox 4 broadcast still fell short of the promotion’s first two efforts on the network, which netted 5.7 and 4.7 million viewers in November and January, respectively. Headlined by a heavyweight championship main event between Junior dos Santos and Cain Velasquez, UFC on Fox 1 still holds the viewership record for a live MMA broadcast on network TV, breaking the previous mark of 4.85 million viewers set in 2008 by the CBS-broadcast EliteXC “Primetime.”

Saturday’s preliminary card on Fuel TV averaged 194,000 viewers, according to Sherdog.com’s source.

The reported figure easily tops the previous high for a preliminary card broadcast on Fuel TV, which was set when UFC on FX 1 attracted 148,000 viewers in January. The program also marked a high for preliminary broadcasts in the series, topping both the second and third UFC on Fox installments, which earned 144,000 and 86,000 viewers, respectively. The UFC on Fox 1 prelims were not broadcast on Fuel TV but were instead streamed live on Facebook.