CM Punk's UFC 225 Fight A Huge Pay-Per-View Flop
More bad news for 'Chick Magnet' Phil Brooks.
UFC 225 was a massive box office flop for the mixed martial arts organisation, reportedly scoring less than 150,000 pay-per-view buys despite a stacked card.
Headlined by Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker's non-title split decision victory over Yoel Romero, the main card also featured an Interim Welterweight Title fight, and was opened by former WWE Champion CM Punk vs. fellow 0-1 fighter Mike Jackson.
Punk was destroyed. He scored an opportunistic first-round takedown on Jackson, but again looked well out of his depth, with his opponent openly clowning him from full mount in the second and third rounds. Jackson could have finished the fight at several points, but coasted to a lopsided 30-26 unanimous decision victory instead.
That UFC 225 drew so poorly is a huge surprise, not only because it presented an all-star lineup, but because Punk's presence on UFC 203 reportedly added an estimated 125,000-225,000 extra buys in September 2016.
Many factors will have contributed to 225's demise, but the cratered numbers suggest that any morbid curiosity PPV-buying fans had in Punk fighting died the moment he was submitted by Mickey Gall, and with Dana White confirming his UFC departure, the future looks uncertain.