Bellator 170 Delivers Huge Viewership Numbers

Bellator 170 was expected to do big viewership numbers, and it did just that. The event, which was headlined by former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz and UFC veteran Chael Sonnen that saw Ortiz choke out Sonnen in his retirement fight, averaged 1.374 million viewers on Spike TV this past Saturday.

Bellator 170 peaked at 1.85 million viewers. In the co-main event, 1.7 million viewers witnessed Paul Daley‘s devastating flying knee KO over Brennan Ward. Overall, Bellator 170 delivered 1.4 million viewers – making it the 3rd most watched card in the franchise’s history. The 3-hour telecast was also ranked #1 in cable with Men 18-49 in the timeslot. It was the biggest audience for a Bellator event since last February’s show that featured a double main event of Royce Gracie vs. Ken Shamrock and Kimbo Slice vs. Dada 5000, which set the company record at 1.964 million.

There was no big sports competition on cable, which no doubt helped the rating, and the show finished second for the night in the 18-49 demo with a 0.55 rating.

Bellator returns to Spike TV this Friday night with Bellator 171 that takes place in Kansas Star Casino in Mulvane, Kansas. Melvin Guillard vs. Chidi Njokuani in a catchweight bout will serve as the main event while David Rickels vs. Aaron Derrow in a lightweight bout will serve as the co-main event. Rounding out the main card is A.J. McKee vs. Brandon Phillips in a featherweight bout and Jessica Middleton vs. Alice Yauger in a female flyweight bout.