After a run of three solid ratings in a row, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) saw overnight ratings fall by roughly 40% for UFC on FOX 8, which was headlined by a flyweight title fight between Demetrious Johnson and John Moraga.
According to a report from TV By The Numbers, UFC on FOX 8: "Johnson vs. Moraga," which took place last night (Sat., July 27, 2013) at KeyArena in Seattle, Wash., garnered an average of 2.04 million viewers for the 8-10 p.m. ET broadcast, with a 0.9 rating in the highly coveted 18-49 demographic.
It's important to note that the main event of the show, the 125-pound championship bout that saw Johnson dominate and submit Moraga in the fifth round, means the event went much longer than the time allotted for the show. That means the overnight ratings have not factored in anything that came after 10 p.m. ET.
That's good news for both the UFC and FOX because the numbers will likely take a bump upwards from what they've shown so far. But regardless, the rating is still the lowest overnights of any UFC on FOX card to date.
For comparison's sake, UFC on FOX 6: "Johnson vs. Dodson," which was also headlined by a flyweight title fight of Demetrious Johnson vs. John Dodson and had the full push of NFL Playoff promotion behind it, pulled in an average of 3.77 million viewers for the 8-10 p.m. ET broadcast, with a 1.8 rating in the 18-49 demographic.
The previous FOX card headlined by Benson Henderson, was UFC on FOX 5: "Henderson vs. Diaz," and that show did 3.41 million viewers. UFC on FOX 4: "Shogun vs. Vera" did 2.36 million viewers in their overnight ratings.
They still aren't back up to the levels they were at first (4.6 million for UFC on FOX 1), but that's not exactly unexpected.
UFC on FOX 8 featured the aforementioned flyweight title showdown, in addition to Rory MacDonald's underwhelming decision against Jake Ellenberger, Robbie Lawler ended Bobby Voelker's night with a head kick while Liz Carmouche put a pounding on newcomer Jessica Andrade.
For complete results, including blow-by-blow coverage of all the night's action, click here and here.