Report: UFC 253 earned over 700K PPV buys, 3rd-most of 2020

UFC 253 generated over 700,000 pay-per-view buys globally, making it the promotion's third-most successful event of the year, sources told Mike Coppinger of The Athletic.

The Fight Island event headlined by a bout between undefeated middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and Paulo Costa reportedly trails only UFC 251 in July and UFC 246 in January.

UFC 251, headlined by Kamaru Usman versus Jorge Masvidal, drew 1.3 million pay-per-view buys, according to Coppinger. UFC 246, which saw Conor McGregor return to the Octagon and defeat Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone, drew a reported 1 million buys.

Adesanya dominated Costa, who also entered the bout undefeated, en route to a second-round TKO victory at UFC 253. In the co-main event, Jan Blachowicz earned a second-round TKO against Dominick Reyes to claim the vacant light heavyweight strap.

UFC 253 also made history in New Zealand, Adesanya's home nation, by becoming the country's largest-ever pay-per-view UFC event, according to Stuff's Marvin France.

The UFC should be in line for another major pay-per-view success when the second trip to Fight Island concludes Oct. 24 with undefeated lightweight king Khabib Nurmagomedov taking on interim champion Justin Gaethje.