It was documented in the Sports Business Journal that the UFC 259 pay-per-view event did very well, reportedly selling more than 800,000 units worldwide.
The talent-stacked UFC 259 event featured four champions and three title fights. At the top of the card, undefeated middleweight champion Israel Adesanya looked to make history as the fifth simultaneous double-weight class world champ but fell short and took his first professional loss in the UFC. However, the event really delivered high drama, controversy, and action.
It would seem the 800,000 pay-per-view buys (reported by John Ourand Sports Business Journal) were in large part because of the implications should Adesanya pull off the victory against the light heavyweight champion. The thought process being that fans expected “The Last Stylebender” to pursue a super fight with all-time-great Jon Jones if he came out victorious.
Bantamweight Title Fight High On Drama
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Prior to Jan Blachowicz and Nunes defending their titles at UFC 259, Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling went to war in a fight that seemed to be swaying in the Russian’s direction. An illegal knee would be deemed intentional, thus disqualifying Yan and awarding Sterling the new UFC bantamweight champion. Since the decision, Sterling has spoken thoroughly about the controversy. In addition, Petr Yan and his coach also provided their interpretations of what happened on the night of the fight as well.
With so many different angles of entertainment, it’s no surprise the card delivered pay-per-view numbers, but another point it underlined is that Adesanya might be promotion’s next golden goose with such a large number of pay-per-view units sold. Despite losing to the Polish champion in a competitive fight at UFC 259, Adesanya proved he could hang with the bigger man and, not only that, but put it on him, too. Since the Nigerian-born star headlined the card, it definitely would seem he had a big impact on the large 800,000 pay-per-view buy rate.
Now that we have seen Israel Adesanya pull 800,000 pay-per-view units as a headliner, do you believe he is a bigger draw than Jon Jones? Let us know below what you think!
