Bellator put a lot into promoting the Kimbo Slice vs Ken Shamrock fight at Bellator 138. It seems as though their efforts were rewarded today when the final ratings came in and it was revealed that the event had set a ratings record for Bellator MMA.
Bellator 138 peaked at 2.1 million viewers for the main event. The main card received an average of 1.6 million viewers, which was nearly as much as Bellator’s previous record mark.
MMAJunkie.com provided some background on Bellator’s previous records.
Previously, the viewership record for the Viacom-owned promotion was 1.8 million live viewers, set by this past November’s Bellator 131 headliner between Tito Ortiz and Stephan Bonnar. An average of 1.2 million tuned in overall.
Additional numbers for Bellator 138, including the peak minute viewership and DVR numbers, will be available later this week, the network said. Nevertheless, the fight was declared the most watched MMA fight on cable since January, when Irish featherweight Conor McGregor fought Dennis Siver at UFC Fight 59, drawing a peak viewership of 3.162 for the main event on an average of 2.75 million viewers.
If for some reason you missed the fight on Friday night, you can view the full fight below:
It seems as though promoting obvious money grabs and surrounding it with solid fights is a formula we will see used more frequently by Bellator.