Bellator 172 Draws 807,000 Viewers; UFC Fight Night Main Card Attracts 907,000

In terms of ratings, it probably wasn’t quite the weekend Bellator MMA had planned.

After losing its much-hyped Fedor Emelianenko vs. Matt Mitrione headliner just hours before Bellator 172 was set to begin, the card attracted an average of 807,000 viewers to Spike on Saturday, according to Sports TV Ratings. The card, which took place at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., also drew 407,000 in 18-to-49 demographic.

After Mitrione pulled out of the fight due to kidney stones, the lightweight clash between Patricky Freire and Josh Thomson was elevated to the main event. Freire won via knockout 40 seconds into the second round. The main sports competition for Bellator 172 was the NBA All-Star Saturday night festivities, which topped cable television ratings for the evening with 5.6 million viewers on TNT.

Meanwhile, the UFC Fight Night 105 main card on Sunday attracted 907,000 viewers to Fox Sports 1, again according to Sports TV Ratings. The main card also drew 435,000 viewers in the 18-to-49 demographic.

The UFC Fight Night prelims, which were also on FS1, drew 760,000 viewers overall and 330,000 in the 18-to-49 group.

UFC Fight Night 105 saw Derrick Lewis earn a second-round knockout victory over Travis Browne in the evening’s heavyweight headliner at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax. The card went up against the NBA All-Star game, which drew more than 6.5 million viewers on TNT and 1.2 million on TBS.