(PRESS RELEASE) -- New York – FOX Sports’ exclusive coverage of the Ultimate Fighting Championship this past Saturday night (12/8) almost doubled the audience of the network’s last presentation, and delivered the network its highest-rated, most-watched UFC event since January.
The exciting main even went a full 5 rounds with Henderson winning by unanimous decision, and drew a solid 3.3/6 with 5.7 million viewers from (when to when) as Henderson successfully defended his title defense over Diaz. In addition to its overall success, Henderson vs. Diaz generated impressive ratings among younger male demographics, averaging 3.5 for Men 18-34 and 4.0 for Men 18-49 which would place is as the No. 3 for the week in prime among the coveted Men 18-34 demo, behind only Sunday Night Football and THE SIMPSONS, and No. 4 among Men 18-49. On a grander scale, FOX dominated the night across the key male and adult demos out-rating the combined averages of ABC, CBS, and NBC among Men 18-34 (2.8 vs. 0.8), Men 18-49 (3.1 vs. 1.4), Adults 18-34 (2.0 vs. 1.1) and Adults 18-49 (2.1 vs. 2.0).
UFC on FOX 5 opened with Mike Swick vs. Matt Brown (2.0/4, 3.6 million viewers) and grew steadily throughout the night as UFC legend BJ Penn was defeated by up and comer Rory MacDonald (2.4/4, 4.3 million) and UFC mainstay Mauricio Rua was beaten by Alexander Gustafsson (2.5/5, 4.5 million).
Las Vegas led all markets with a 6.3/11 metered market rating/share followed by Louisville (5.0/8), Sacramento (4.7/9), Columbus (4.6/8) and Phoenix (4.2/8). UFC on FOX 6 airs Saturday, Jan. 26 (8:00 PM ET) as flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson defends his title against John Dodson live from the United Center in Chicago, IL.