According to BloodyElbow.com, UFC 126 pulled in 10,893 in the Mandalay Bay Events Center with a total gate of $3.6 Million.
UFC 126 Results: Attendance and Live Gate Receipts Are In
These numbers indicate the card was successful, although expectations placed it in lofty territory of previous Super Bowl card weekends. While some had expected the event to reach closer to the 12,000 to 15,000 range in terms of attendance as well as a live gate in excess of $4 million, realistically the star power was not enough to push the event north of where the numbers actually are. Vitor Belfort is a known commodity, but does not command audience pay-per-view purchases. Anderson Silva’s love-hate relationship with fans generally elevates his status without pushing the returns he delivers to the UFC into stratospheric territory.
As we pointed out yesterday, there is no halo of influence on MMA that comes courtesy of being on Super Bowl weekend. It appeared to have elevated ticket prices and the $3.6 million gate is very commendable, but the success of the show lived and died with the existing star power and fanfare around the proposed match-ups.
Given these results combined with traffic data, I will amend my earlier prediction that this event will reach 700,000 pay-per-view buys. I now suspect we will see a return of approximately 500,000 to 650,000 buys. That is still a very good number, but not one that would make it one of the marquee events of the year.
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