Despite two quality fights, Spike TV special came up short with the audience
Saturday’s UFC 136 Prelims Live broadcast on Spike TV featured a pair of bouts that could have been included on any pay-per-view.
The two fights — Demian Maia vs. Jorge Santiago and Anthony Pettis vs. Jeremy Stephens — led into what was the best overall line-up of the year for the UFC, but the presence of a former middleweight title challenger and the last lightweight champion in WEC history was not enough to bring a sizable audience to the network.
The one-hour special drew one million viewers and a 0.8 household rating, the lowest numbers of any UFC preliminary event broadcast on Spike. The two similar specials that aired on ION TV each registered fewer than one million viewers; 1.1 million viewers had been the previous low on Spike, a number earned by UFC 118 in August 2010.
Overall, the series has generated solid numbers, averaging 1.35 million viewers over the course of 25 events. February’s two-fight special in advance of UFC 126 drew 2 million viewers, while the preliminary fights for the last UFC pay-per-view (UFC 132: Jones vs. Jackson) ranked third all-time with 1.6 million viewers.
Two bouts from UFC 137 are slated to air on Spike leading into the October 29 pay-per-view event.
Dennis Siver and Donald Cerrone clash in a battle of lightweight contenders, while former lightweight Tyson Griffin makes his second appearance at featherweight, welcoming WEC alum Bart Palaszewski to the division.
UFC 103 was the first event that featured preliminary fights aired on Spike TV.