Aaron Pico standing over a KO'd Justin Linn (photo via Bellator)

By FCF Staff

It’s not too often that Bellator pulls more viewers than the UFC, but this past weekend, the Viacom owned promotion reportedly did just that.

Bellator 183 took place on Saturday night in San Jose, while UFC Fight Night 117 aired on Friday night from Saitama, Japan. The latter card was headlined by a light-heavyweight bout between Ovince Saint Preux and Yushin Okami, and Bellator 183 featured Benson Henderson taking on Patricky Friere in the main event. Saturday’s card also included the Bellator debut of Roy Nelson, and a welterweight fight between Lorenz Larkin and Paul Daley.

According to a follow up report from MMA Fighting, Bellator 183 averaged 598,000 viewers on Spike TV, and UFC FN 117 averaged 502,000 viewers, on FXX. Bellator 183 peaked with 847,000 viewers and UFC FN 117 peaked with 622,000.