UFC 262 reportedly does 300,000 pay-per-views buys in the United States

By Cole Shelton - May 20, 2021

The pay-per-view buy rate for UFC 262 is reportedly in.

Charles Oliveira. Michael Chandler

According to John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal, UFC 262 sold 300,000 PPV buys on ESPN+ in the United States. That number does not include international buys, as it is domestic buys only.

At first look, 300k buys would likely be a disappointment for UFC 262. However, it has been widely reported the promotion is doing fewer PPVs due to the fact it is only available on ESPN+. UFC 261, for example reportedly did 700k on ESPN+ but that had three title fights and was a stacked card. UFC 262, meanwhile, took a hit with it losing Nate Diaz vs. Leon Edwards which would’ve helped sell some more PPVs, so 300k is probably around what many expected the card to do.

A comparable card to UFC 262 would’ve been UFC 258 and UFC 260 which saw only one title fight and a lackluster main card. However, neither of those events had their buy rates reported.

Charles Oliveira

Image Credit: @UFC/Twitter

In the main event of UFC 262, Charles Oliveira took on Michael Chandler for the vacant lightweight title. Although it was an intriguing matchup, neither are massive stars, while the co-main event saw Tony Ferguson take on Beneil Dariush. The other main card scrap that likely would’ve added viewers was Edson Barboza vs. Shane Burgos.

In the end, it was Oliveira who won by second-round TKO in the main event of UFC 262 to win the vacant lightweight title. Beneil Dariush also dominated Tony Ferguson in the co-main event.

The next PPV event is UFC 263 which goes down on June 12. The card sees Israel Adesanya vs. Marvin Vettori 2, Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno 2, and Nate Diaz vs. Leon Edwards. That card will likely outperform UFC 262 as it has much more starpower on the card.

Are you surprised by UFC 262 only selling 300k pay-per-views buys in the United States?


Topics:

Charles Oliveira Michael Chandler UFC UFC 262