The box office estimates are in, and this month's UFC 142: Aldo vs Mendes pay-per-view likely drew the lowest buyrate since UFC 136.
Early figures have UFC 142 collecting close to 225,000 buys, according to Dave Meltzer, although the low estimate isn't all that surprising.
As our own Nate Wilcox explains, UFC 142 was doomed from the start due to a dearth of American media unable to attend in Brazil, as well as a featherweight headliner between relatively unknown national commodities. Plus, the NFL's ratings golden goose, Timmy Tebow, playing on the same night likely didn't help matters.
As always, Meltzer and the Wrestling Observer broke it all down (subscription required):
It's appearing to be just slightly below where UFC 136 (Edgar vs. Maynard III) ended up and would be one of the lowest numbers in years, but all of that was expected, given it was not a strong marquee card and shows that emanate from outside North America generally do a lot worse. This would appear to be the UFC's current baseline number, since this show was from Brazil and was going against the Broncos playoff game. It did better in Canada and Australia. It's possible the late controversy regarding Anthony Johnson's weight called some late attention to the show and may have helped it slightly.
For some added context, here's a look at the last ten UFC pay-per-view buyrates (via Wikipedia):
- UFC 142 Aldo vs. Mendes: 225,000
- UFC 141 Lesnar vs. Overeem: 800,000
- UFC 140 Jones vs. Machida: 485,000
- UFC 139 Shogun vs. Henderson: 290,000
- UFC 137 Penn vs. Diaz: 280,000
- UFC 136 Edgar vs. Maynard: 225,000
- UFC 135 Jones vs. Rampage: 520,000
- UFC 134 Silva vs. Okami: 335,000
- UFC 133 Evans vs. Ortiz: 310,000
- UFC 132 Cruz vs. Faber: 350,000