HE ONLY NEEDED ONE ARM @TouchNgo_
Stream
#UFC261 on ESPN+ https://t.co/11j8ptNbRf pic.twitter.com/azQV4WvYwo— ESPN MMA (@espnmma)
April 25, 2021
The preliminary card for UFC
261 attracted an average audience of 951,000 to ESPN this past
Saturday, according to
ShowBuzz Daily.
That ranks as the third-best figure for a pay-per-view preliminary
card in 2021 behind UFC 259 (1.208 million) and UFC 257 (1.433
million). The UFC 261 prelims were also No. 1 on cable in the
18-to-49 demographic with a 0.36 share.
The four-bout card aired on ESPN from 8 p.m. ET to 10 p.m. ET and
served as a lead-in for the UFC 261 pay-per-view, which was
highlighted by a trio of title fights at the top of the card –
including a rematch between Kamaru
Usman and Jorge
Masvidal. The evening’s featured prelim saw Randy Brown
submit Alex
Oliveira with a rear-naked choke 2:50 into the opening round of
their welterweight clash.
Meanwhile, the early prelims drew 616,000 viewers to ESPN2 for a
four-fight offering that began at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT. That portion
of the card included a “Fight of the Night”-winning clash between
Jeff
Molina and Qileng
Aori.
The entire UFC 261 preliminary lineup was simulcast on ESPN+, but
ratings figures are not released for the streaming platform.