A combination of the UFC 228 prelims being moved to unfamiliar territory on FX, college football competition, along with no major interest in the show, led to the lowest numbers in one year.
Saturday’s show averaged 560,000 viewers, peaking with 683,000 viewers for the Tatiana Suarez win over Carla Esparza in the final of the four matches on the show.
It was the lowest number since the prelims before UFC 215, held on Sept. 9, 2017. That night saw a series of circumstances that hurt the number, notably the Walker Cup golf tournament going long and delaying the start of the FS 1 show by one hour, leading the second hour to only do 418,000 viewers, before the Amanda Nunes vs.