UFC 158: St-Pierre vs. Diaz Prelims Draw Strong TV Ratings on FX

UFC 158: St-Pierre vs. Diaz continued setting TV ratings benchmarks on Tuesday as the numbers came back for the UFC 158 Prelims on FX.

The two-hour broadcast drew an audience of 1.579 million viewers, making the UFC 158 Prelims the third most-watched preliminary bout broadcast in FX’s history. Only UFC 156 with 1.9 million viewers and UFC 148 with 1.8 million viewers have hit higher marks.

The magnetic appeal of UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre wasn’t lost on Fuel TV either, the Fox network that provides ancillary programming for UFC pay-per-view events.

The UFC 158 weigh-ins, as reported by MMAWeekly.com on Monday, set record marks, as did the network’s post-fight coverage.

The UFC 158 post-fight coverage drew 125,000 total viewers following the pay-per-view’s conclusion, which makes it the most-watched pay-per-view follow-up coverage in the action networks history.

Only post-fight coverage for two UFC on Fuel TV fight night events has drawn a larger audience, likely due to the immediate lead-in from the fights.