The UFC 235 preliminary card averaged 1.48 million viewers on ESPN, according to ShowBuzz Daily.
That’s the highest ratings for a pay-per-view preliminary card since the UFC 207 prelims averaged 1.5 million viewers on FS1 in on Dec. 30, 2016. The UFC 207 prelims served as a lead-in to a card headlined by former women’s bantamweight queen Ronda Rousey, one of the promotion’s biggest draws at the time.
The UFC 235 preliminary draw was more stacked than usual and featured a pivotal featherweight matchup between Zabit Magomedsharipov and Jeremy Stephens as the featured bout.