Jake Paul has some words after viewership numbers for UFC Freedom 250 on Paramount+ surfaced.
UFC Freedom 250 was a historic event that was capped off by a memorable title unification bout in the lightweight division. Justin Gaethje stopped Ilia Topuria before the start of the fifth round to earn his first undisputed UFC championship. The co-main event saw Ciryl Gane finish Alex Pereira to win the interim UFC heavyweight gold.
Paramount announced that UFC Freedom 250 scored 17 million total viewers for the United States and Latin America, and an average of 8.2 million. Global numbers are expected to be released at a later date. MVP MMA 1, which was headlined by Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano, also drew 17 million viewers on Netflix.
Paul played a role in promoting MVP MMA 1, and he took to his X account to tout those numbers once again.
“As a boxing promoter it feels good waking up today being the biggest MMA promoter,” Paul wrote.
Most Valuable Promotions’ co-founder Nakisa Bidarian took a more diplomatic approach when reacting to UFC Freedom 250’s viewership totals.
“Tremendous success for UFC 250, which is great for the continued growth of the sport, the fighters and the fans,” Bidarian wrote. “MVP MMA had Netflix. UFC 250 had the Whitehouse and one of the most recognized global figures in history in President Trump. Only winners here in all scenarios. And UFC 250 was an amazing production, whether you agreed with the location or not.
“UFC is by far the most dominant brand / the reference brand for the sport of MMA. For MVP MMA to be in the same ballpark of viewership for their biggest event ever is damn good. Don’t care who was higher. Congrats to all.”
What do you make of the total viewership numbers for both UFC Freedom 250 and MVP MMA 1? Do you think MVP can build off the success of its first MMA show? Sound off in the comments below.