MMA Junkie and MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani report attendance at UFC 119 at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana scored 15,811 fans for a live gate of $1.8 million. According to officials, the figures are a success and larger than expected.
Bonuses of $70,000 were handed out to C.B. Dolloway (Submission of the Night), Matt Mitrione and Joey Beltran (Fight Night bonus) and Sean Sherk and Evan Dunham (Fight Night bonus). Note, the lone KO of the night by Frank Mir was not awarded the KO of the night.
Payout Perspective:
UFC 119 was a disappointing night despite the attendance/live gate. Two of the three bonuses were awarded to fights that were on SpikeTV. The third bonus was a disappointing decision since many thought that Evan Dunham had won, including Dana White. I applaud the UFC for not awarding KO of the night. It was a passive way of sending a message. The Mir/Cro Cop main event was not entertaining at all.
Jason,
The MMAJunkie article states:
“UFC 119 drew 15,811 attendees for a live gate of $1,613,337, UFC officials announced near the conclusion of the pay-per-view event.”
I have to exception to the perspective. I have a real problem with the UFC dictating how fighters are supposed to fight. When a high light real shot is more important than a win then this is no longer a sport it is professional wresting.
It’s like saying in a two out runners on second and third don’t intentionally walk the batter because they won’t put it on ESPN. Or in football don’t rush because people want to see passes. Sera not using his ground game to go for the bonus is a prime example of this and a good example of the strategy back firing.
This is MIXED martial arts. You bring the style that you use and who ever gets the win gets the win. If some one thinks they can do better by pressing harder then they will. But if you have two guys in the ring that aren’t engaging then maybe you need to look at the match maker.
The question that needs to be answered is whether it is worth trashing the integrity of the sport because Dana and the Fertita’s don’t think they are rich enough. That the UFC thought that Mir should have thrown the fight away while he is on a loosing streak because they did a shitty job putting the card together says a lot about where the UFC is at these days.
The UFC is also getting into a habit of promising things to fighters if they do certain things and then reneging after the fact. Fitch not getting a title fight comes to mind.
I agree, a win is a win. If fighters concentrate more pelasing the croud and bosses than winning the fight, you will soon turn an advanced form of combat into an exhibition. It happen before with pro wrestling. Enjoy it while you can hardcore fans.
Wow JV I could not have said it better I agree TOTALLY
Well said JV!
Gate must be one of their lowest for a PPV?
Wonder what the numbers will say for PPV buys
No, not really. They hover around the $1.5-$2.5 million mark for an average fight (not held in Canada).
Buyrate is anyone’s guess, but it’s probably going to be in the 200k-350k range. My guess is probably south of 300k, but we’ll see.