UFC Attorney Denies Reported UFC 225 Buyrate

UFC attorney denies the reported UFC 225 buyrate.

UFC 225 took place on June 9 inside the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. The event was headlined by a non-title middleweight bout between champion Robert Whittaker and Yoel Romero. The bout wasn’t contested for a championship because Romero missed weight. Whittaker ended up taking a split decision victory.

The co-main event featured an interim welterweight title clash. Colby Covington shared the Octagon with former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos. Covington emerged victorious and is now set for a title unification bout with Tyron Woodley.

Despite how stacked UFC 225 was, below average preliminary viewership numbers left many concerned. Things got worse when a report from the LA Times surfaced with claims from an industry insider that the event only drew 150,000 buys. Our own Adam Martin talked about the reported buyrate.

UFC caught wind of the report and reached out to the LA Times. Here’s a piece from the outlet’s updated story:

“UFC attorney Hunter Campbell said listing 150,000 as the number of purchases for Saturday’s event was a ‘material misrepresentation’ of the actual buys and short by ‘something in excess of six figures,’ but declined to provide an actual figure.”

In addition to the headliner and co-main event, UFC 225 featured Holly Holm vs. Megan Anderson, Andrei Arlovski vs. Tai Tuivasa, and the return of CM Punk. Many were surprised to hear the 150k report as Punk is a well-known draw from his WWE days. When you throw in the fact that Holm was the first fighter to dethrone Ronda Rousey, a lot of that “star power” didn’t seem to translate even with a stacked card. Even with this latest denial, many will still be calling for less pay-per-view events. The UFC is still on tap for 12 PPVs in 2019.