Midnight Mania! UFC 249 Drew Over 700k Buys

Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

UFC 249 was a risk, but yesterday I argued it was a success based on the high-quality of the event. One of the main selling points of holding the event was the idea that in this sports-deprived time, a huge number of fans would willingly fork over their cash and purchase the pay-per-view (PPV). However, others argued that financial struggles and growing unemployment could sabotage the $65 purchase.

As it turns out, UFC 249 sold remarkably well per Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand, proving it a financial success.

Since the switch to ESPN+, it has been more difficult to measure PPV buys, where were a murky estimate even before that transition. For example, Conor McGregor’s return at UFC 246 indicated an “equivalent” to two million buys, only for the actual number to be revealed at about half of that.

For a non-McGregor event though? 700,000 is an extremely strong number, particularly when neither Justin Gaethje nor Tony Ferguson are proven draws. To provide additional context, Dana White revealed that UFC 249 greatly outdrew UFC 248, an event which was headlined by one of the sport’s newest would-be superstars in Israel Adesanya.

An extra benefit: lots of fans saw Gaethje put on the performance of a lifetime against Ferguson, which could lead to another surge in buys when he squares off with Khabib Nurmagomedov later in the year.

Insomnia

Full disclosure: I cannot figure out if this is the real Keith Peterson tweeting or not. It’s an unverified account, but all it’s done for ages is retweet stuff about being an MMA referee. I also saw a comment from Jon Anik that he doesn’t know if Peterson owns a cell phone.

It’s hilarious either way.

An ancient martial art simplified:

Henry Cejudo may be retired (MAY!), but the cringe don’t stop!

I nearly wrote my “Morning After” post on Tony Ferguson’s legacy, and how he deserves be remembered as a champion regardless of the specifics. “El Cucuy” forever!

In a true shocker, Georges St. Pierre reacted with class to his Hall of Fame introduction announcement.

Even Mike Tyson was impressed by Francis Ngannou’s ability to make heads fly!

Slips, rips, and KO clips

I saved this clip before I saw the allegations.

It has to be brutally demoralizing to spend a ton of energy cranking on an armbar only for the other guy to escape and then start dropping hammers.

Triangle choke to armbar is among the first submission transitions jiu-jitsu teaches, but that doesn’t mean it’s ineffective!

Random Land

Legends.

Midnight Music: I don’t know when the next Frank Ocean album will release (it could be another four years!) or what it will sound like, but I remain ever excited for it.

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.