MMA Fighting · Apr 27, 2016
UFC 197 prelims deliver 835,000 viewers
Esther Lin, MMA FightingEarly indications are mixed when it comes to Saturday night's UFC 197 numbers.
Pay-per-view numbers are not available for the show, which as far as drawing power went, was almost entirely on the back of the story of Jon Jones returning after 17 months. With the injury to Daniel Cormier, Jones didn't have the dance partner that would have been expected to make it a major show.
Historically, Jones has been a fighter who can draw well with the right opponent. He did 500,000 plus on pay-per-view against the likes of Chael Sonnen and Rampage Jackson, and far bigger with Rashad Evans, peaking at an estimated 820,000 buys for his last fight with Cormier.