Sonnen

By FCF Staff

The Ultimate Fighting Championship stacked this past Saturday’s first FOX Sports 1 card with big name fighters and rising stars, and the August 17th event pulled strong ratings for the new network as a result.

According to the preliminary figures, UFC Fight Night 26 drew an average of 1.78 million viewers Saturday, which is significantly higher than what UFC cards averaged on FX. The card also beat all four of the major networks in key advertising demographics, as it led the way in 18-34, 18-49 males, and 18-34, 18-49 adults.

Of course, UFC FN 26 featured a line-up that could have been scheduled for a pay-per-view. In the headliner, one of the promotion’s biggest draws, Chael Sonnen, tapped out former light-heavyweight champion “Shogun” Rua. In the co-main-event, rising heavyweight Travis Browne stopped former Strikeforce and K-1 star Alistair Overeem. The August 17th event also featured popular fighters like Urijah Faber, Matt Brown, Joe Lauzon and highly touted prospect Conor McGregor.

UFC Fight Night 27, the promotion’s next FOX Sports 1 card, will take place August 28th in Indianapolis. The event will feature Martin Kampmann taking on fellow welterweight contender Carlos Condit in the main event.