The prelims for UFC 219 on Saturday did 914,000 viewers, the fourth-best number of 2017.
The number was even more impressive considering it was going head-to-head with the Orange Bowl, the Wisconsin win over Miami on ESPN that did 11,727,000 viewers. The number is also impressive because there were no major names on the prelim card, so the number is more based on interest in the pay-per-view show.
The peak was 998,000 viewers for the Michal Oleksiejczuk win over Khall Rountree.
UFC 219 was headlined by Cris Cyborg retaining her women’s featherweight title over Holly Holm in what was expected to be, based on name value, the most marketable woman’s fight of the year.