The UFC 248 prelims, getting a strong lead-in from the Duke vs. North Carolina basketball game, did 1,195,000 viewers on ESPN.
The number was the third best of the three pay-per-view shows this year, but it was also expected to be. The number is determined somewhat from the lead-in, but mainly from the headline star of the PPV later that night.
Israel Adesanya’s first defense of the UFC middleweight championship against Yoel Romero headlined Saturday’s show at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, while a bantamweight bout between Sean O’Malley and Jose Quinonez served as the final ESPN preliminary.