Bellator 145 Edges UFC Fight Night 77 for a Rare TV Ratings Win
Daniel Straus recently had a banner night when he finally, in his third attempt, defeated Patricio “Pitbull” Freire at Bellator 145. He captured the Bellator featherweight title in the process. And now that the results are in, he helped Bellator get a rare TV ratings victory over the UFC.
Bellator 145: Pitbull vs. Straus 3 on Spike did slightly better than UFC Fight Night 77: Belfort vs. Henderson 3 on FOX Sports 1.
Bellator 145 drew an average audience of 869,000 viewers, while UFC Fight Night 77 averaged 757,000 viewers. Both were clobbered by college football, which ruled the night across multiple other networks, but when it comes to combat sports, Bellator won a slight victory.
Bellator 145 featured two title fights. Straus topped Pitbull in the night's headliner at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, while Will Brooks successfully defended his lightweight title from Marcin Held in the co-main event. Bellator 145 also had the promotion announcing its first tentpole event for 2016, which will feature Royce Gracie vs. Ken Shamrock and Kimbo Slice vs. Dada 5000.
RELATED > Royce Gracie vs. Ken Shamrock 3 Slated for Bellator Event in February
Vitor Belfort and Dan Henderson headlined UFC Fight Night 77 in a five-round middleweight bout, that saw Belfort put Henderson away for the second time to win bragging rights in their trilogy of bouts.
