Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is slowly but surely gaining some of the ground it lost when it transitioned from Spike TV to the FX Channel back in late 2011.

And it helps that Spike's replay clause has since expired, taking away its ability to counter-program UFC events with -- you guessed it -- UFC events. Remember when Nate Diaz went head-to-head with Nate Diaz in the ratings war?

Those days are over.

That means the world's largest mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion can zero in on UFC fans without the confusion of multiple broadcasts, and it seems to have paid dividends for the UFC 156 "Prelims" special last Saturday night (Feb. 2, 2013) on FX, according to Yahoo! Sports.

Saturday's show was a winner for FX in many regards. It set network highs for most viewers among males 18-49 (953,000), people 18-34 (759,000) and males 18-34 (556,000). It got its second-best performance among people 18-49 (1.27 million), trailing only the UFC 148 prelims (1.297 million) in that category.

FX was the No. 1 network in primetime Saturday, including broadcast and cable, among males 18-34 (485,000) and people 18-34 (688,000). FX's primetime lineup on Saturday was UFC 156 prelims from 8-10 p.m. ET and then Iron Man 2 at 10 p.m. ET.

War Iron Man!

The FX prelims also had a stacked line up that featured recognizable names as well as a pair of big finishes. Tyron Woodley destroyed Jay Hieron by way of knockout while Bobby Green brutalized Jacob Volkmann before making him quit.

See all the UFC 156 results, videos and recaps here.