The estimate for UFC 163’s pay-per-view buy rate is in and it’s not particularly impressive with around 170,000 – 190,000 sales being reported according to MMAfighting’s Dave Meltzer.
That’s better than the UFC 161: Evans Vs Henderson fight earlier this year which did a rock bottom 135,000 – 155,000 buys, but it’s still very low by the UFC’s standards.
It’s not overly surprising though. Jose Aldo’s not become a major PPV draw yet and many people had anticipated that he would defeat The Korean Zombie. The needle could have moved more significantly in a positive direction if the UFC’s original plan to put Aldo up against Anthony Pettis had gone ahead however.
Beyond that the co-main event match-up featuring Lyoto Machida Vs Phil Davis didn’t capture fan’s imaginations and that was pretty much where the star power on show ended with much of the rest of the main card being taken up by Brazilian fighters still building their reputation.
The UFC will be hoping for considerably better numbers for their upcoming shows which feature a string of high-profile title fights featuring champions Ben Henderson, GSP, Jon Jones, Cain Velasquez and Ronda Rousey before the year is out.
