The premiere edition of "UFC on Versus" drew 1,240,000 viewers, an industry source told MMA Fighting.The event was highlighted by a light-heavyweight fight pitting rising star Jon Jones against Brandon Vera. Jones won in a first-round TKO.
Following in the tradition of most UFC events, the card did score a very strong rating in the male 18-34 demographic, with a 1.66 rating.
The UFC plans to run at least one more event on Versus in 2010, and UFC President Dana White recently announced Aug. 1 as the likely possibilty for the follow-up effort, a date that will likely take place in Oakland, Calif.
While the total number of viewers surpasses most WEC broadcasts on the Versus network, UFC "Fight Night" events on Spike routinely draw around 2 million viewers. Spike, however is available in more homes than Versus. Spike is in nearly 99 million homes while Versus is available in around 75 million homes after recently reaching a deal to return the channel to the DirecTV lineup.
The ratings also fall short of Versus' highest-rated MMA event, 2008's WEC 34, which drew 1,540,000 for a card that featured then-champion Urijah Faber defending his featherweight title against Jens Pulver.
Get the latest gear
