UFC on Fuel TV 2 Averages 197,000 Viewers; Bellator 65 Attracts 163,000 on MTV2

Sherdog.com confirmed the numbers with an industry source on Tuesday. UFC on Fuel TV 2 represents a small decline for the Las Vegas-based promotion, which attracted 217,000 viewers during UFC on Fuel TV 1 in February. Nevertheless, the telecast still topped the preliminary card figures produced by Fuel TV’s broadcast of both UFC on FX cards this year, which earned 148,000 and 113,000 average viewers on Jan. 20 and March 3, respectively.

Headlined by a light heavyweight confrontation between Swedish prospect Alexander Gustafsson and hard-hitting American Top Team representative Thiago Silva, UFC on Fuel TV 2 marked the promotion’s inaugural trip to Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm. Gustafsson cruised to a unanimous nod over Silva in the main event, using his superior length and footwork to sway the judges in his favor.

One night prior, Bellator 65 showcased an exciting bantamweight title bout pitting Zach Makovsky against Eduardo Dantas. Dantas took Makovsky’s championship at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., rendering the American unconscious with an arm-triangle choke to capture the gold. Like the UFC broadcast, Bellator 65 also represented a slight downturn: The previous week’s Bellator 64 attracted a season-high 175,000 viewers.