[ad_1]
Josh Hedges / Getty Images
Israel Adesanya kicks Paulo Costa during his second-round victory at UFC 253.
Mixed martial arts fans can’t get enough of UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, and the ratings confirm it.
While the UFC has not released the numbers for Sunday’s event in Abu Dhabi, the promotion announced that UFC 253: Adesanya vs Costa, led by the spectacular second-round technical knockout of Paulo Costa’s Nigerian-Kiwi, was pay-per-view. largest in history. (PPV) for the UFC in New Zealand.
A record number of fans purchased the event at Sky Arena, Sky Sports Now, or the UFC Fight Pass, while the second-highest number of commercial venues across the country streamed the PPV event to their sponsors.
It was also the third highest-performing PPV event overall in New Zealand, behind the Kiwi heavyweight boxing showdown between David Tua and Shane Cameron in 2009, and Joseph Parker’s heavyweight unification world title fight. against Anthony Joshua in 2018.
READ MORE:
* Israel Adesanya pursuing greatness as he delivers another spectacular performance at UFC 253
* Paulo Costa criticizes the celebration of Israel Adesanya when the unselfish gesture of the UFC champion is revealed
* Why millions love Israel Adesanya and his brutal sport
The Tua-Cameron fight reportedly holds the record for 88,000 PPV purchases.
“We are reaching new heights in New Zealand,” said Peter Kloczko, vice president of UFC Australia and New Zealand. “The performance and results in the Octagon of Kiwi athletes are supported by a growing passionate fan base in New Zealand. Achieving a record audience for UFC 253 is a tremendous sign of the UFC’s continued positive development in the region. “
RNZ
Mixed martial arts have certainly been on the rise as a sport in New Zealand in recent years, but that rise reaches a new high point this weekend.
Adesanya was joined on the undercard by City Kickboxing teammates Brad Riddell, Kai Kara-France and Shane Young.
Riddell secured his third straight win since joining the promotion, while Kara-France, who received the Fight of the Night bonus, and Young failed to leave Fight Island with victories. But they all contributed to the event breaking the previous region record held by UFC 207: Nunes vs. Rousey on December 31, 2016.
Distribute
Brad Riddell celebrates his victory over Alex da Silva at UFC 253.
“Sky was delighted with our customers’ responses to the weekend’s UFC game that aired on Sky Arena and Sky Sport Now,” Sky Chief Content Officer Tex Texeira said in a statement.
“The fight was the third highest-performing pay-per-view event to date and the largest UFC event in history on our streaming service Sky Sport Now.”
It’s another example of the growing growth of mixed martial arts in New Zealand, spearheaded by Adesanya and his team at City Kickboxing.
All four fighters in action at UFC 253, as well as lightweight star Dan Hooker, train at the Auckland gym and are currently the only New Zealand athletes to have signed to the UFC.
Hooker deserves a lot of credit for building the profile of MMA in this country. For a few years after his debut in 2014, he was the only New Zealand-based fighter on the UFC roster.
Since then, the Aucklander has made his way to become a major player in the lightweight division, having headlined his last two shows and is fourth in the rankings.
In addition to PPV ratings, UFC 253 was also a huge hit on social media.
On Sunday, the event ranked as trend No. 1 on Twitter and the # 1 trend. 2 on Google in Australia and New Zealand, and outperformed recent blockbusters UFC 249 and 251 in impressions, video views and interactions.
With 3.5 million followers on Instagram alone, the UFC said Adesanya now generates as many conversations and video views in Australasia as Irish star Conor McGregor would during a fight week.
Adesanya’s last two pay-per-view events have generated close to 100 million impressions, 1 billion interactions and 27 million video views in the two weeks of fighting combined, according to the UFC.
