Colby Covington vs. Tyron Woodley Fight Night card pulls in over one million viewers on ESPN+

UFC Vegas 11, featuring the main event between welterweights Colby Covington and Tyron Woodley, pulled in over one million viewers on ESPN+.

The Athletic’s Mike Coppinger reported the ratings for UFC Vegas 11: Covington vs. Woodley, noting it as a big win for the UFC considering there were the NBA playoffs and the NHL Stanley Cup finals both on at the same time as the UFC Fight Night was.

UFC Fight Night headlined by Colby Covington-Tyrone Woodley pulled in more than 1 million unique viewers on ESPN+ on Saturday, sources tell @TheAthletic. A big number on its own, but especially considering the NBA Eastern Conference Final and Stanley Cup Final were that night

— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) September 23, 2020

UFC Fight Night headlined by Colby Covington-Tyrone Woodley pulled in more than 1 million unique viewers on ESPN+ on Saturday, sources tell @TheAthletic . A big number on its own, but especially considering the NBA Eastern Conference Final and Stanley Cup Final were that night

These are great numbers for the event, particularly since sports fans had multiple big-event options the same night. Instead, over one million people watched Covington defeat Woodley via fifth-round TKO in the main event. Covington and Woodley are not friendly with one another and waited a long time to fight each other in the Octagon, but it was Covington who got the last laugh when he stopped Woodley late.

Of course, much of the post-event chatter hasn’t been about the fight itself but rather Covington’s controversial comments about a number of different issues. Covington made a joke about UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman’s “little tribes” which led to Leon Edwards calling Covington a “racist scumbag.” Covington also took a shot at LeBron James, which prompted the NBA superstar to take a shot at Covington.

Say what you want about Covington but he is proving himself to be a draw for the UFC. His controversial comments bring in eyeballs and he is one of the best welterweights in the UFC. Look for Covington’s next fight to be a marquee matchup at 170lbs that either headlines another card on ESPN or possibly even a PPV.

Do the high ratings for UFC Vegas 11 prove that Colby Covington is a draw?