MMA Junkie reports the bonuses and attendance for UFC on Fuel TV 8. Mark Hunt and Wanderlei Silva were the big winners on Saturday.
Mark Hunt and Wanderlei Silva shared KO of the nights and for good reason with their highlight knockouts of Stefan Struve and Brian Stann respectively. Silva doubled up in bonuses as his upset of Stann earned the Fight of the Night. All bonuses were $50,000 each.
Attendance for Saturday’s event drew 14,682 and no live gate was announced. This is about the same to the unofficial 15,000 fans that attended last year’s UFC 144 (although there were rumors that it could have been up to 20,000 in attendance).
Payout Perspective:
Earlier in the week it was reported that over 10,000 tickets for a gate of $1.3M had been sold for the event at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan. With Wanderlei Silva on top of the card, is this a disappointment? Silva recaptured his past with an impressive KO of Brian Stann.
I don’t think it is a disappointment. This was an average to slightly above average quality Fuel card. If they can make their annual trek to Japan be a Fuel card without a title fight, then I think they should be happy. The main event was 2 185lbers fighting at 205 lb with no real title aspirations at that weight (or maybe even at 185). Main event and co-main event were fun fights which turned out to be exciting.
I concur. A $1.3M gate? Sounds like they’re at least breaking even there.
I’ve heard that Fischer and Zelaznik had some guests from the television networks at the show. Their contract with WOWOW ends after this year, I think. It will be interesting to see if they can upgrade their television presence in 2014. Building deals usually takes a LONG time.
Iole is reporting that the show drew a record 485,000 viewers.
http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2013/3/5/4067226/report-ufc-on-fuel-8-ratings-485000-viewers