UFC and Bellator went head-to-head on a night that also included two national boxing events Saturday, and the clear television winner was ESPN boxing.
ESPN’s broadcast of Vasyl Lomachenko’s title win in his third different weight class over Jorge Linares did 1,024,000 viewers for the entire show on average and 1,439,000 viewers for the main event, which went ten rounds, a key on a night with a lot of short televised bouts. The main event was the most-watched fight, whether boxing or MMA, on basic cable television so far this year.
Both UFC and Bellator would be able to argue winning the MMA bragging rights on a night where it was clear the audience was split, rather than expanded past the usual levels that two big shows against each other would traditionally do.