Bellator 243 put in its strongest performance of 2020.
The card took place on Friday, August 7 and was headlined by former Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler defeating former UFC lightweight champion Ben Henderson by first round knockout.
The show proved to be a successful one for the promotion, as MMA Fighting reports that it drew a .12 rating and an average viewership of 403,000 viewers. This marks the highest-rated Bellator card of 2020.
Other bouts on the main card saw Timothy Johnson defeat Matt Mitrione, Myles Jury defeat Georgi Karakhanyan, and Sabah Homasi defeat Curtis Millender. There was also a six-fight preliminary card that streamed live on YouTube.
There was not much competition going up against Bellator 243; however, an NBA game between the Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors, which aired on TNT, more than doubled Bellator's numbers.
The promotion's next event, Bellator 244, takes place on Friday, August 21. It is headlined by a light-heavyweight title fight between defending champion Ryan Bader and challenger Vadim Nemkov. The card airs live on Paramount Network.