It would appear that the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has once again been outshined by boxing’s latest event. This time around, it was the WBC heavyweight war between champion Deontay Wilder and Luis Ortiz that crushed in the ratings.
The world’s most famous mixed martial arts promotion hosted UFC 222 over the weekend, featuring a highly anticipated title fight main event. Women’s UFC featherweight champion Cris Cyborg faced off against former Invicta FC bantamweight champion Yana Kunitskaya for division dominance.
On the same night, WBC title holder Deontay Wilder had his limits tested as he faced off against Luis Ortiz inside the squared circle. Now that the numbers are in, it would appear that boxing has once again beaten out the UFC in the ratings.
The preliminary card of UFC 222 hit a relative high for the promotion wit an average 905,000 on FOX Sports 1. However, pay-per-view sales for the night’s main card hit a total 340,000-380,000 purchases.
Comparatively, the Wilder vs. Ortiz card on Showtime Boxing struck an average 730,000 views. While the card’s average struck lower than that of UFC 222’s preliminary card, the Wilder vs. Ortiz title fight managed to average a massive 1,055,000. The event peaked at roughly 1.2 million views.
