Sports Media Report
Combate Americas today announced spectacular ratings for its second live televised Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) event of 2019 – ‘Mexico vs. Spain’ – that pulled in more than 537,000 viewers on Univision despite its midnight ET start time, on Friday, March 8.
The numbers garnered for Friday night’s show continue a pattern of ratings dominance over other MMA and major sports competitors, and represent an increase of over 13 percent from its last live show, “Combate Americas: Mexico vs. USA” on February 22.
“Our viewership proves Combate Americas to be a rising ratings magnet,” said Combate Americas CEO Campbell McLaren. “Our momentum is building, and we see no ceiling for how high our numbers can go. The industry may not have seen this coming, but we have known all along that we will change the face of the sport one telecast at a time.”
The live event, which took place at the historic Arena Coliseo in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico produced a number of ratings highlights that includes overpowering Telemundo’s “Boxeo Telemundo,” which began at 11:35 p.m. ET, by 42 percent, or nearly 160,000 viewers.
With its UDN viewership (139,000 viewers) alone, “Combate Americas: Mexico vs. Spain” also outperformed the general market leader and longest standing MMA franchise, beating “UFC Unleashed,” which aired on ESPN2 on Friday at 1 a.m. ET, by a margin of more than 13,000 viewers.
Combate Americas’ ratings also defeated other major sports over the weekend including the Major League Soccer (MLS) match between FC Dallas and LA Galaxy (243,000 viewers), which aired on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET, and Sunday’s two leading soccer matches: Liga MX soccer between UNAM and Monarchs Morelia (510,000 viewers) and English Premier Leagues’ Chelsea vs. Wolverhampton (157,000 viewers).
The live, U.S. television viewership was the highest rated of any show in the same time slot on Univision on any other day last week.
In the “Combate Americas: Mexico vs. Spain” main event contested at a catchweight of 157 pounds, Ignacio “Levium Armorum” Capella (6-1) of San Luis, Menorca, Spain shocked the world by scoring a thunderous, first round (2:59) TKO (punches) on a far more experienced Alvaro “Chango” Herrera (9-7) of Guadalajara, while Victor “Periquito” Hugo Madrigal (8-2) defeated Zebenzui “El Niño Roca” Ruiz (7-3) via second round (3:50) TKO (punches).
The 10-bout “Combate Americas: Mexico vs. Spain” event saw an amazing 8 fights end in (T)KO or submission.
