UFC 227 performed better than expected in terms of pay-per-view buys.
The UFC has to be pleased with the performance of their most recent big show. UFC 227, which featured bantamweight and flyweight title fights, managed to do well above expectations at both the box office and in terms of PPV buys. According to Dave Meltzer of MMA Fighting, the show did an estimated 300,000 buys and drew the most fans into the Staples Center in Los Angeles for any of their events there so far.
While there was some heat centered around the headlining fight between T.J. Dillashaw and Cody Garbrandt, the bout was a rematch. So was the co-main 125-pound title fight between Demetrious Johnson and Henry Cejudo. And other than Cub Swanson, the rest of the PPV card featured fighters that are not considered draws by any stretch of the imagination. So this is good news for the UFC.
Cejudo ended up upsetting Johnson for the flyweight title via controversial decision, which Dillashaw knocked Garbrandt out in the first round.
It’s also a good bounce back from UFC 226. The July event is usually one of the highest-drawing cards of the year for the promotion, and they went all out in booking a superfight between heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic and light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier. Unfortunately for the UFC, the event drew somewhere shy of 400,000 buys, a major disappointment.
UFC 228 goes down September 8th in Dallas, and will be headlined by a welterweight title fight between Tyron Woodley and Darren Till.