MMA fans had two big shows to enjoy last weekend in the form of Bellator 186 and UFC 217.
Bellator 186 kicked off the weekend with a card headlined by light heavyweight champion Ryan Bader defeating Linton Vassell in the main event.
That show drew a total of 508,000 viewers to the five fight card on Spike TV, with the Phil Davis versus Leo Leite fight draw the most viewers at 695,000 people checking out that encounter. The other fights on the card saw Ed Ruth defeat Chris Dempsey, Saad Awad defeat Zach Freeman and Ilima-Lei Macfarlane defeat Emily Ducote to become the first ever Bellator MMA Women’s Flyweight Champion.
The following night saw a four fight UFC 217 preliminary card air live on Fox Sports 1, with James Vick defeating Joe Duffy in the featured bout.
A record breaking total of 1,276,000 viewers checked out the preliminary card, which started on FS2 before the final three bouts aired live on FS1. That number is the highest amount of viewers was the largest of the year for the UFC on FS1 and second place all time for viewers behind the UFC 207 preliminary card, which drew 1,511,000 viewers.
In the lone bout on FS2, welterweight fought as Randy Brown defeated Mickey Gall and that single bout drew 251,000 viewers to FS2.
It was a light heavyweight contest between Ovince St. Preux and Corey Anderson that drew the most viewers, with 1,394,000 people checking that battle out.
Up next for both promotions is Bellator 187 this Friday Night on Spike TV and UFC Fight Night Norfolk this Saturday Night on FS1.
