UFC 126 Prelims Earn Record 2 Million Viewers

Spike TV officials informed Sherdog.com the official numbers on Tuesday morning. The broadcast also netted a 1.2 household rating and 1.7 ratings in the male 18-34 and 18-49 demographics, respectively.

Previously, the “UFC Prelims” viewership record was held by the UFC 109 broadcast, which earned 1.7 million viewers in February 2010.

UFC 126 took place on February 5 from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas and was headlined by a middleweight title clash between longtime champion Anderson Silva and challenger Vitor Belfort. After an extended feeling-out process, the champion found his range midway through the round, knocking Belfort out with a front kick to the jaw.

The hour-long special immediately preceded the pay-per-view broadcast of UFC 126 and featured a lightweight scrap between WEC veteran Donald Cerrone and hard-punching Brit Paul Kelly as well as a featherweight attraction pitting Japanese import Michihiro Omigawa against powerful wrestler Chad Mendes.

Prior to the Spike TV broadcast, a preliminary bantamweight duel between Demetrious Johnson and the debuting Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto was streamed live over social networking site Facebook.

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