Bellator 131 knocked out the competition on Saturday, November 15 with record ratings for the emerging MMA franchise under new president Scott Coker. The Bellator 131 main event between Tito Ortiz and Stephan Bonnar (11:50pm-12:16am) drew 1.8 million viewers, peaking at 2 million, making it the most-watched and highestrated MMA fight on cable in 2014.
The Ortiz-Bonnar fight ranks as 2nd highest-rated MMA fight telecast in all of television with Men 18-34 and Men 18-49, including broadcast, in 2014. Also, Ortiz-Bonnar ranked #2 in its timeslot in all of cable with Men 18-34 and Men 18-49.
"Bellator 131 was an incredible event that had something for everybody, and I'm thrilled to see our efforts were so well-received by our fans,² said Coker. ³I'm very proud of our entire Bellator and Spike family for all of the hard work they put resulting in these record-breaking ratings. The most exciting thing for me is the knowledge that that we are just getting started, and I can't wait for everyone to see what we have in store for the future."
Bellator 131 ratings breakdown:
Bellator 131 Ortiz vs. Bonnar 11:50p
1.8 million viewers
Bellator 131 10:11p
1.3 million viewers
Bellator 131 9p
994,000 viewers
Overall, the entire fight card delivered (9:00-12:16) delivered 1,241,299 viewers, a record for Bellator MMA on Spike TV.
Bellator 131 was a knockout with social media as well as it was the most tweeted Bellator event in Spike history. Reach on Facebook and the associated video views were also record highs for Bellator.