Bellator Fighting Championships' wild fifth season continued as the ratings for Saturday's Bellator 53 broadcast plunged from the second-highest in company history to the worst showing of the promotion's partnership with MTV-2. According to reports from MMA Junkie, the weekend event drew just 103,000 viewers, down from the 269,000 of Bellator 52.
When the numbers seem erratic, the fact stands that the broadcast was once again directly competing with college football and a wildly popular UFC pay-per-view (UFC 136). Thus, it is telling that a 1:00 a.m. ET/PT replay of the event actually outdrew the live version, somehow garnering 120,000 viewers.
Bellator 53 was held on October 8th at the Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Oklahoma, and headlined by a pair of semifinal matchups for the season five welterweight tournament.
Ratings rankings of MTV2-televised Bellator shows:
Bellator 44: 325,000 viewers
Bellator 47: 277,000 viewers
Bellator 52: 269,000 viewers
Bellator 45: 264,000 viewers
Bellator 49: 235,000 viewers
Bellator 36: 230,000 viewers
Bellator 48: 226,000 viewers
Bellator 40: 218,000 viewers
Bellator 35: 200,000 viewers
Bellator 42: 199,000 viewers
Bellator 46: 185,000 viewers
Bellator 43: 182,000 viewers
Bellator 39: 174,000 viewers
Bellator 37: 173,000 viewers
Bellator 51: 158,000 viewers
Bellator 38: 150,000 viewers
Bellator 41: 132,000 viewers
Bellator 50: 114,000 viewers
Bellator 53: 103,000 viewers