Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC
The UFC Fight Island 4 card, headlined by a bantamweight showdown between former champion Holly Holm and Irene Aldana, ended up as one of the highest-rated cards of the year for the promotion’s dedicated shows on ESPN.
The card, which technically didn’t start until 11 p.m. ET on ESPN due to the college football game between Georgia and Auburn running late, ultimately averaged 1.097 million viewers during the course of the broadcast.
Overall, the UFC Fight Island 4 card received a .40 rating in the coveted 18-49 year old demographic, which helped the show land at No. 4 overall for cable ratings on Saturday according to the Nielsen Ratings System.
The main card was also simulcast on ESPN+ but those ratings figures are not available because ESPN+ is a subscription based service.
ESPN ruled the entire night with the other three top rated broadcasts of the night as well including the Georgia vs. Auburn game, which landed at No. 1 with 4.22 million viewers on average. The viewership from that featured game undoubtedly helped the UFC card, which actually started later than usual in order to accommodate the broadcast schedule for the college football showdown.
The end result was the UFC Fight Island 4 card producing the second-highest ratings of 2020 for dedicated shows airing on ESPN. The top-rated broadcast was the UFC on ESPN 8 card headlined by Alistair Overeem against Walt Harris that averaged 1.198 million viewers back in May.
The UFC has been enjoying a strong run of ratings on ESPN during 2020 after the promotion was the first major sport in the United States to return to action after the start of the coronavirus pandemic.