UFC 268 draws 700,000 domestic PPV buys on ESPN+
The UFC’s record-breaking financial year continued to get better with the news that November 6th’s UFC 268 drew in the range of 700,000 domestic pay-per-view buys through ESPN+.
Per usual, the number was first reported by John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal.
The event took place at New York City’s Madison Square Garden and was headlined by welterweight champion Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington II. The PPV also featured a rematch between strawweight champion Rose Namajunas and former champion Weili Zhang and a much-anticipated lightweight fight between Michael Chandler and Justin Gaethje.
An Usman vs. Jorge Masvidal title fight at UFC 261 earlier this year also did in the 700,000 range.
The number is UFC’s fourth-highest of the calendar year, headlined by Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier II at UFC 257. Their trilogy fight at UFC 264 did 1.5 million buys while March’s UFC 259 (Israel Adesanya vs. Jan Blachowicz champion vs. champion) did 800,000 buys.
UFC will close out the year with one final PPV: December 11th’s UFC 269, headlined by Poirier challenging lightweight champion Charles Oliveira and women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes defending against Julianna Pena.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.