KILLER CUB IS BACK @CubSwanson
with a beautiful return to the Octagon
#UFC256Order the PPV: https://t.co/05E97eYz38 pic.twitter.com/qrerIMsSaM
— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA)
December 13, 2020
UFC
256 was one of the year’s most entertaining and memorable cards
but that wasn’t reflected in the ratings for the preliminary
draw.
According to
ShowBuzz Daily, the UFC 256 prelims averaged 503,000 viewers
for a two and a half hour broadcast on ESPN2. Only the UFC 254
prelims, which averaged 343,000 viewers for a daytime broadcast on
ESPN2, attracted a smaller audience.
UFC 256 took place this past Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
The pay-per-view portion of the card was headlined by a flyweight
championship clash between Deiveson
Figueiredo and Brandon
Moreno, which ended up being praised as one of the best fights
of 2020. The prelims, meanwhile, saw featherweight veteran Cub Swanson
score a second-round knockout of Daniel
Pineda in the evening’s featured bout. Additionally, surging
lightweight prospect Rafael
Fiziev knock out Renato
Carneiro in the opening stanza of their preliminary
encounter.
The lower ratings can be attributed, at least in part, to the
prelims airing on ESPN2 instead of ESPN. The last four pay-per-view
prelims of 2020 aired on ESPN2, with UFC 255 earning the largest
audience at 587,000 viewers.
All told, UFC pay-per-view preliminary cards averaged 907,000
viewers for 11 events. That represents an increase from 2019, when
prelims averaged 894,000 viewers on the ESPN family of
networks.