Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight standouts not only bring the power and pain, but they bring the eyeballs, too.
UFC on FOX 13, which went down on Dec. 13, 2014, from U.S. Airways Arena in Phoenix, Ariz., drew a solid 3.8 million viewers, according to a FOX Sports press release.
The stacked event featured three Heavyweight fights on the televised main card, including Matt Mitrione knocking out Gabriel Gonzaga in round one (watch it) and Alistair Overeem obliterating Stefan Strufe in the opening frame, as well (highlights).
But, the main dish featured a Heavyweight classic that saw former division kingpin Junior dos Santos go toe-to-toe with Stipe Micoic for 25 minutes (video replay). And the final result was music to UFC's ears.
From the press release:
UFC FIGHT NIGHT ON FOX: DOS SANTOS vs. MIOCIC featured an epic five-round heavyweight battle between former champion Junior Dos Santos and No. 4 ranked Stipe Miocic on Saturday, Dec. 13 and delivered FOX easy first place finishes in primetime across several key demos, including Men 18-34, Adults 18-34 and Men 18-49. UFC FIGHT NIGHT ON FOX: DOS SANTOS vs. MIOCIC peaked at a 2.3/4 household rating/share with 3.8 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. The entire UFC FIGHT NIGHT on FOX averaged a 1.6/3 with 2.8 million viewers on Saturday evening. FOX led primetime in Men 18-34 (1.2 vs. 0.6 on CBS), Men 18-49 (1.4 vs. 1.1 on CBS) and Adults 18-34 (1.1 vs. 0.7 on CBS). The UFC FIGHT NIGHT PRELIMS on FOX Sports 1 at 5:00 PM ET Saturday delivered a .58 rating with 654,000 viewers, up 7% from last December's UFC on FOX Prelims.
Boom!
Also, the co-main event featured Nate Diaz's much-anticipated return to the Octagon, taking on rising contender, Rafael dos Anjos, in Lightweight action. Diaz, however, came up short on the judges' scorecards after nearly getting "murdered" by the determined, and talented, Brazilian.
The numbers were a jump from UFC on FOX 12, which featured a Welterweight match up between Robbie Lawler and Matt Brown, peaking with 3.4 million viewers.
Question is, how much credit should Diaz get for these recent impressive numbers?