Reports the Paulie Malignaggi vs. Artem Lobov bare knuckle boxing match on June 22 did better numbers than UFC did on many of its pay-per-view shows appear to be greatly exaggerated.
Based on industry estimates, the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championships look to have done in the range of 18,000 buys on traditional television pay-per-view. Digital numbers for FITE TV are unavailable, but it is extremely rare that a pay-per-view event that airs on television does nearly the same number on digital. The BKFC show is believed to have done well based on the standards of a FITE TV broadcast, but unless it’s a giant UFC or boxing event, doing even 25,000 buys on Internet pay-per-view is a rarity.