Ratings Report: UFC 170 Pulls Low PPV Buys, Brings Rousey’s Draw Into Question

When it comes to PPV buy rates we never really get disclosed true and accurate figures. However the one reliable and lone source for UFC pay-per-view figures has and always will be, Mr. Dave Meltzer.

When people talk of buys, stating this PPV did this amount and this one did that, it is all based on his industry intelligence. The UFC never confirms figures, nor do the broadcasters, however, Meltzer’s time in the PPV business has gone on way before the UFC existed and therefore his estimates and contacts are widely considered as valid and on point.

With that being said, here is what he said via MMAFighting.com Show about UFC 170:

“UFC 170, headlined by Ronda Rousey vs. Sara McMann, is estimated at doing 340,000 buys. That’s down from Rousey’s first main event, one year earlier, with Liz Carmouche. But the drop is hardly unexpected. The promotion of the Carmouche fight, the first women’s fight ever in the UFC, was among the best in company history. There was both among the most media coverage leading to a UFC fight in history, combined with a stirring Prime Time shows focusing on the two women leading to the fight.

This show had a lot going against it in comparison. It didn’t get anywhere near the media attention. Women’s fights are no longer a novelty, and the first-time attention wasn’t there. Rousey had just fought two months earlier, against Tate, in a match built up off the Ultimate Fighter as the biggest grudge match of the year. Rousey vs. McMann came nowhere close in garnering interest.”