The UFC’s latest pay-per-view event just narrowly beat Bellator MMA’s last pay-per-view when it comes to the total number of buys.
UFC 213 took place July 13 and was headlined by an interim middleweight title fight between Robert Whittaker and Yoel Romero.
Bellator returned to pay-per-view with Bellator: NYC on June 24. The event was headlined by a grudge match between Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva.
According to Dave Meltzer, of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and MMA Fighting, UFC 213’s early estimated buys are between 125,000 and 150,000 pay-per-view buys. That is slightly more than Bellator: NYC which early estimates suggest that show did between 90,000 and 130,000 buys.
The UFC pay-per-view buys are disappointing for the promotion. UFC 213 has the lowest buy rate of any event this year.
Bellator’s pay-per-view numbers aren’t nearly as disappointing. This was only the second pay-per-view event in the promotion’s history. The numbers for Bellator: NYC are almost identical to the numbers of their first pay-per-view back in 2014.
