For UFC 146 the promotion put together an all-heavyweight main card crowned with a title fight between Junior Dos Santos and Frank Mir, and it appears to have been reasonably successful judging by the early pay-per-view estimates emerging this week.
According to The Wrestling Observer the indications are that the event did around 560-580,000 sales would make it the second best selling event of the five the UFC has put on so far this year.
Given that the card suffered major upheaval, starting with Alistair Overeem being taken off the main event due to a failed drugs test and then being replaced by Frank Mir – a fight that didn’t capture fans imaginations in the same way – those numbers are relatively good.
It also gives heavyweight champ JDS his best performance on PPV so far, beating out the 325,000 sales that resulted from his headline fight with Shane Carwin back at UFC 131. He now appears to be heading for a rematch with Cain Velasquez before the end of the year and it’ll be interesting to see whether he can maintain his new level without the gimmick of a full heavyweight main card on that occasion.
UFC PPV Sales In 2012 So Far:
- UFC 145: Jones Vs Evans – 700,000
- UFC 146: Dos Santos Vs Mir – 560,000-580,000 (estimate)
- UFC 143: Diaz Vs Condit – 400,000
- UFC 144: Edgar Vs Henderson – 375,000
- UFC 142: Aldo Vs Mendes – 235,000
