MMA fans were treated to a plethora of great action this past weekend in the form of Bellator 202, Bellator 203 and UFC Fight Night Boise.
Bellator 202 kicked off the weekend with a Friday Night card airing live on the Paramount Network, with women's featherweight champion Julia Budd successfully defending the gold on the main event over Talita Nogueira. That show drew a total of 405,000 viewers according to MMA Fighting, but that show went unopposed by the UFC, as the two promotions would go head to head on Saturday Night.
UFC Fight Night Boise would win the weekend, with a six fight main card headlined by former UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior Dos Santos defeating former WSOF Heavyweight Champion Blagoy Ivanov by decision. The card, which aired live on Fox Sports 1, brought in a grand total of 754,000 viewers, with another 14,859 watchers coming via streaming options Fox Now and Fox Sports Go. The main event fight brought in the most viewers, as a total of 840,000 people watched the clash of former champions.
A four fight preliminary card also aired live on Fox Sports 1, headlined by Eddie Wineland and Alejandro Perez, bringing in a total of 668,000 viewers. There was a pre-fight show on Fox Sports 1 as well and that brought in 237,000 viewers, while the post-fight show on the same channel brought in 113,000 viewers.
There was only one tape delayed event this weekend and that was Bellator 203 on the Paramount Network, which was taped earlier in the day in Rome, Italy. The show headlined by featherweight champion Patricio Pitbull defeating Daniel Weichel brought in a total of 391,000 viewers.
Up next for the UFC is UFC Fight Night Hamburg on Sunday, with former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Mauricio Rua facing Anthony Smith in the main event, while Bellator MMA is off until August.
