Image: UFC/Getty

Two separate media entities reported Monday that Saturday’s UFC 251 pay-per-view brought in 1.3 million buys, the best for both ESPN+ and the UFC since October 2018’s UFC 229 event headlined by Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor.

The kickoff to four straight events on “Fight Island” at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island facility was headlined by welterweight champion Kamaru Usman vs. cult hero and short notice challenger Jorge Masvidal with two other championship bouts on the PPV portion of the card.

Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand reported the 1.3 million buy number Monday night, adding that total includes close to 900,000 for ESPN+ alone. Earlier in the day, The Athletic’s Mike Coppinger had reported the same earlier minus the ESPN+ purchase number. Since ESPN+ is the exclusive provider of UFC PPVs in the U.S., it’s assumed the other 400,000 are international buys.

The aforementioned UFC 229 show did a company record 2.4 million buys. The UFC never officially releases PPV numbers and information has been tougher to come by since ESPN became their exclusive provider in March 2019, meaning both sides were very happy with how this show performed.