The advertisements had dubbed UFC 205’s preliminary card as the biggest in UFC history, and the ratings certainly reflect that the promotion’s debut show in Madison Square Garden was a smash hit. SportsTVRatings reports that the FS1-televised prelims averaged just over 1.8 million viewers, making it the 3rd most-watched PPV preliminary card special in FS1 history. Peak viewership totals are not yet known.
The only other FS1 prelim specials to better UFC 205 are UFC 194 (1.93 million viewers) and UFC 196 (1.843 million). What do these three events all have in common? Conor McGregor in the main event.