MMA Payout has learned from Nielsen sources that the main card for UFC Fight Night 50 outdrew Bellator 123’s main card this past Friday. The two promotions held events in Connecticut and were virtually competing head to head against each other on their respective home networks.
UFC Fight Night 50 drew 0.54 rating on FS1 while Bellator 123’s main card drew a 0.43. These are the early estimates and more numbers including the average numbers of viewers will come on Monday. For those wondering, the rating is the estimated percentage of all of TV households tuned to a program.
In addition to the main cards, Bellator had two hours of shoulder programming preceding the main card. The UFC had its normal three hour block of prelims.
The main card main event for the UFC was Ronaldo Souza taking on Gegard Mousasi and Bellator had Patricio “Pitbull” fighting Pat Curran.
Payout Perspective:
It was an interesting night of fights with each organization putting on televised events on the same night in the same state. Each card had its share of good fights and it appears that the preliminary indications have the UFC as the winner this round.
Friday turned out to be a great night for MMA. I wish UFC would produce more shows on Fridays going forward.
Bellator had me surprised with their in cage confrontation between Stephan Bonnar and Tito Ortiz. I am not a fan of WWE wrestling, but recognize Bellator playing towards that sort of fan base with the acting and drama.
I actually thought it was funny; what Bonnar had to say was entertaining and look forward to that fight now.
/Ramble
The main cards overlapped by 30mins, that’s hardly “head to head”, more like back to back.
Word is going around that the UFC ended up at 911,000 and Bellator did 667,000.
How fucking embarrassing for the ufc!! 5 years ago this would never even be a conversation. But wait! the ufc has great ticket sales in mexico bahahaha
How fucking embarrassing is it for you Sal? You do Bob Arum’s homosexual bidding, you little queer. Hahahaha.