UFC 100, set to air live on pay-per-view this Saturday, features title defenses in two of its three most popular weight classes. Combined with the heavy promotional campaign behind the show and an additional main-event between the two most recent “Ultimate Fighter” coaches, industry critics see the show easily topping the North American mixed martial arts buyrate record.
Though he anticipates a big number for the show, UFC President Dana White is not making colossal predictions for the event’s buyrate. In an interview with CNBC, White says, “our polling right now is showing we’re going to do well over a million buys for this fight.”
“Well over one million buys” would imply a new buyrate record (UFC 66 did 1.05 million and UFC 92 did somewhere in that ballpark), but it does not appear to project the 1.5 million number that some analysts, including F4WOnline’s Bryan Alvarez, have predicted for the event.
One issue likely restraining White from making lofty predictions is the fact that UFC 94, which featured the anticipated rematch between Georges St. Pierre and BJ Penn, posted a number well below the expected figure. Though its 800,000 buys made it a hugely successful event for UFC, virtually everyone in the industry was eyeing one million for the event. UFC 91: Lesnar vs. Couture, at 920,000 buys, also failed to reach the million mark.
Nonetheless, with Brock Lesnar versus Frank Mir, Georges St. Pierre versus Thiago Alves and Dan Henderson versus Michael Bisping, combined with the massive mainstream and niche media attention for UFC 100, this show seems a lock to break records for the fast-growing sport.