UFC 252 the latest PPV event held by the MMA promotion is believed to have done more than 500,000 PPV buys worldwide. According to SBJ Daily these, sources told them that typically 80 percent of the buys come from the US leaving the remaining 100,000 to come from around the world.
This clocks UFC 252 in as the fourth most-bought UFC PPV event of 2020 trailing behind Connor McGregor’s return to the octagon at UFC 246 in January, Jorge Masvidal’s shot at the title in June and the first PPV event after COVID restrictions took effect between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje at UFC 249.
Viewers tuned in to UFC 252 to see the conclusion of the trilogy between heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic and former two-division champion Daniel Cormier. Stipe emerged victorious in this bout, edging out Cormier on the scorecards to retain his title. This was widely believed to be Cormier’s last bout with the former champion announcing afterward that he would have to do some thinking before he would decide what would be next.
In the co-main event, rising star Sean O’Malley took on the veteran Marlon “Chito” Vera. O’Malley’s run was put to a stop after Vera TKO’d the prospect late in the first round. There was controversy surrounding the victory as O’Malley looked to have injured his foot, however, after the action, many were quick to point out that the injury had come by the way of a leg kick from Vera making it a completely legitimate victory.
According to Robert Joyner, UFC 252’s preliminary card that aired on ESPN drew in an average of 831,000 viewers topping the list of average viewers since May. In May the UFC clocked a whopping 1.15 million average viewers as they aired their first card after COVID restrictions took effect.