UFC on ESPN 18 Averages 1.055 Million Viewers on ESPN, 245,000 on ESPN2

It wasn’t the promotion’s most star-studded card to date, but UFC on ESPN 18 still drew solid ratings.

According to Showbuzz Daily, UFC on ESPN 18 averaged 1.055 million viewers during the two-hour broadcast on ESPN. The event aired on the network following the conclusion of a college football game between Texas A&M and LSU. UFC on ESPN 18 averaged 245,000 viewers during the earlier portion of the card that was broadcast on ESPN2.

That initial figure ranks as the fourth-highest rating for a UFC on ESPN card in 2020. The highest rated event this year remains UFC on ESPN 8, which averaged 1.198 million viewers for a card headlined by a heavyweight clash between Alistair Overeem and Walt Harris on May 16. The numbers are even more impressive considering UFC on ESPN 18 was going head to head with the Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. pay-per-view, which reportedly drew more than 1 million buys.

UFC on ESPN 18 took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and saw Anthony Smith submit Devin Clark in the opening stanza of the evening’s light heavyweight headliner. The original main event of Curtis Blaydes vs. Derrick Lewis was scrapped one day prior to the event when Blaydes tested positive for COVID-19.