UFC 245 Preliminary Card Averages 865,000 Viewers on ESPN2

Geoff @handzofsteelmma Neal melts Platinum #UFC245 pic.twitter.com/wtgEJtMIvV

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) December 15, 2019

The UFC 245 preliminary card attracted an average audience of 865,000 to ESPN2, according to ShowBuzz Daily.

That figure checks in slightly below the UFC 244 preliminary card, which drew 910,000 viewers to ESPN2 for a Nov. 2 card at Madison Square Garden headlined by Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz. Overall, UFC 245 drew the sixth-highest ratings for a pay-per-view preliminary card of the 11 that have aired on ESPN, ESPN2 or FX in 2019. The highest ratings occurred during the UFC 235 prelims, which drew 1.48 million viewers to ESPN in March.

The featured bout of Saturday’s preliminary card saw rising welterweight prospect Geoff Neal defeat Mike Perry via TKO 1:30 into the opening round of their bout. Perry vs. Neal peaked at 1.2 million viewers. In other notable action on the prelim card, Irena Aldana scored a first-round knockout of Ketlen Vieira and Matt Brown finished Ben Saunders in a battle of all-action veterans.

UFC 245 was one of the year’s most anticipated cards with three championship fights on the pay-per-view lineup at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday. In the main event, Kamaru Usman retained his welterweight belt with a fifth-round TKO of Colby Covington. Alexander Volkanovski dethroned featherweight king Max Holloway in the co-headliner, while Amanda Nunes successfully defended her bantamweight crown against Germaine de Randamie.