UFC 148 Draws 19 Million Viewers In Brazil, Breaks Previous Ratings Record

It appears that Saturday's broadcast of UFC 148 far exceeded the promotion's expectations in terms of viewership.


According to a report by Brazilian news outlet Tatame, UFC 148 — which was headlined by a middleweight title clash between longtime rivals Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen — peaked with an average of 19 million viewers in Brazil. The event, which was broadcast live on TV Globo, set a ratings record for The Ultimate Fighting Championship in the country.


While pay-per-view numbers for the American audience were not available this week, a report from MMAJunkie.com on Tuesday stated that the UFC 148 preliminary card, which aired live on FX, drew a record 1.8 million viewers. The numbers slightly bested May's UFC 146 preliminary card, which drew 1.6 million viewers for the cable network. 


UFC 148 took place on July 7 at Las Vegas' MGM Grand Garden Arena in featured the promotion's first-ever six-fight main card. In the main event, reigning middleweight champ and pound-for-pound king Anderson Silva stopped rival Chael Sonnen with strikes in the second round of their five-round title affair. The co-headliner saw former light heavyweight champ Forrest Griffin earn a hard-fought unanimous decision of UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz. 


The UFC is expected to return to Brazil for UFC 153 on October 13 at Rio de Janeiro's HSBC Arena. While no headliner for the event has been confirmed as of yet, a light heavyweight tilt between Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and countryman Glover Teixeira was announced on Monday.