Estimated PPV buys for UFC 231 card released

The estimate for the pay-per-view buys of the recent UFC 231 card has been released. Wrestling Observer Newsletter is reporting that the card, which was headlined by a featherweight title fight between champ Max Holloway and formerly undefeated challenger Brian Ortega, did roughly 240,000 – 300,000 pay-per-view buys.

From WON, the current estimates for #UFC231 is 240k-300k buys. #UFC

— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) December 20, 2018

When compared to UFC 229, which was headlined by a title fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor and sold north of 2 million pay-per-views, UFC 231 looks like dud. Yet compared to many of the other pay-per-views that occurred this year, it’s actually something of a success — in fact, it might even indicate that the featherweight champion Max Holloway is becoming a draw.

Khabib/Conor(2.4M) accounts for 48% of the UFC's PPV buys YTD.Where have all the draws gone?

Stipe/Ngannou-380K
Stipe/DC-380K
Khabib/Iaquinta-350K
TJ/Cody-300K
Cyborg/Kuni-260K
Whittaker/Yoel-250K
DC/Lewis-250K
Yoel/Rockhold-130K
T-Wood/Till-130K
Nunes/Rocky-85K

*231 Pending

— Andy Hickey MMA (@AndyHickeyMMA) December 20, 2018

As the list above shows, several 2018 pay-per-views did less than 300,000 buys, while some did less than 200,000, and one did less than 100,000.

In the UFC 231 main event, Max Holloway defeated Brian Ortega by doctor stoppage between the fourth and fifth rounds. He’s now defended his title two times since winning it from featherweight legend Jose Aldo in 2017.

UFC 231 was co-headlined by a women’s flyweight title fight between Valentina Shevchenko and former strawweight champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Shevchenko won this title fight by unanimous decision, capturing the vacant title in the process.

What do you think of the PPV estimate for UFC 231? Do you consider this card a success?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 12/21/2018.