UFC 221 PPV buys ‘substantially lower’ than numbers returned for Miocic, Cyborg

Heading into last weekend’s soiree “Down Under,” Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was pulling respectable pay-per-view (PPV) numbers for its previous two fight cards, held in late December and mid January, respectively.

340,000 to 380,000 buys, for those of you who are counting.

Unfortunately, the returns for UFC 221: “Romero vs. Rockhold” are expected to be “substantially lower” than what the promotion was able to generate for both UFC 220: “Ngannou vs. Miocic” and UFC 219: “Cyborg vs. Holm.”

That’s according to a report from MMA Fighting.

UFC 221 featured a reworked main event pitting Yoel Romero against Luke Rockhold, after middleweight champion Robert Whittaker was forced to withdraw due to illness. Anchoring the card was a heavyweight co-main event between veteran striker Mark Hunt and the unheralded Curtis Blaydes.

Not exactly must-see TV.

UFC 221 did deliver fireworks in the main event (see it), but it does not appear the card, at least in terms of overall appeal, was enough to keep the casual fan on the hook (and this probably didn’t help). We’ll find out when the final numbers come in later this month.

For much more on UFC 221 click here.