This past weekend, MMA fans were treated to a pair of events in the form of UFC 243 and Bellator 229.
The action kicked off on Friday Night with Bellator 229, which saw Lorenz Larkin defeat former Bellator Welterweight Champion Andrey Koreshkov by split decision. That card brought in an average of 301,000 viewers according to ShowBuzz Daily, making it the third lowest rated Bellator event to air on the Paramount Network this year. Other bouts on the card saw Goiti Yamauchi defeat Saad Awad, Tony Johnson defeat Joe Schilling and Keri Melendez defeat Mandy Polk.
UFC 243 continued the MMA action on Saturday Night with a four fight preliminary card that aired on ESPN 2, which brought in 559,000 viewers, making it the lowest rated preliminary card in the UFC on ESPN era. The bouts that comprised that card saw Jake Matthews defeat Rostam Akman, Callan Potter defeat Maki Pitolo, Brad Riddell defeat Jamie Mullarkey and Megan Anderson defeat Zarah Fairn.
Up next for Bellator MMA is Bellator 230, which features former middleweight champion Rafael Carvalho and Vadim Nemkov in the main event. Up next for the UFC is UFC Fight Night Tampa, which is going to be headlined by former UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion Joanna Jedzreczyk and Michelle Waterson.
