The UFC has announced that the tickets for UFC 180 sold out in just 8 hours. It’s the first UFC event to be held in Mexico on November 15th at Mexico City’s Arena Ciudad de Mexico.
The event features Cain Velasquez defending his heavyweight title against Fabricio Werdum. Per the UFC, it’s the fastest sell-out in the history of the venue the 20,000 plus fans that are expected will be a record for the venue.
Via the UFC:
“That we’ve sold out in the blink of an eye is proof that Mexico is ready for its first UFC event and shows the true devotion of UFC’s fan base,” said Jaime Pollack, UFC Senior Vice President, International Development and General Manager, Latin America. “We couldn’t ask for a better partner in Zignia Live, who provided the staffing and technology to keep pace with the high demand and ensure a seamless experience from UFC fans in Mexico and around the region.”
Payout Perspective:
I actually had this post written prior to the Barao news, so the 177 news shadows over this good news. The sell-out coupled with the good debut for TUF Latin America shows that UFC growth is international. We will see how it cultivates this early success. Certainly the scene in Dublin in July and the anticipated crowd for 180 will be positives for a company that will need to recover from embarrassing setbacks with UFC 174 and now 177.
D says
Eat that tops.
BrainSmasher says
Getting over in Mexico should cause more Hispanics in the US to follow the sport. Not to mention getting more Hispanics into fighting mma.
tops E says
20,000 tickets sold…..yawn
Julio Cesar Chavez, the most popular Mexican fighter of all time. In 1993, more than 136,000 fans came to Aztec Stadium in Mexico City to watch him defend his WBC light welterweight title against Greg Haugen at Aztec Stadium in Mexico City, setting the record for the largest attendance for an outdoor fight.
Just 116,000 more to go and it would equal the record hahaha
Wake me up when its near the number….this ufc hype makes me sleepy
D says
I guarantee you the tickets in ’93 were a fraction of what they are for this you idiot.
You are also once again taking as you put it the most popular Mexican fighter of all time and comparing that to the UFC’s first show in Mexico. Hahaha. You are real dumb.
The fact is this was a huge success and goes to show the international growth of the sport.
anti trolls says
Tops = yawn
anti trolls says
TOPS quit visiting mma web sites your pathetic
tops E says
Any new news on if its near 136 k? Not yet? Hahahaha
D says
There is news that you are near full retardation.
The Greatest says
20k?
That means nothing. Its a new event to Mexico so people are going to see it.
It wont latch on, and without question will have no where near the impact that boxing has in Mexico.
Remember the XFL? Had 14mil viewers for their first game and great viewership for its first week. Why? Because everyone wanted to see what this XFL was.
They got half those viewers for the 2nd week and then worse and worse for the rest of the season until it got cancelled.
And seeing how UFC events happen now, I would expect this to probably end up cancelled.
LeonThePro says
It will be interesting to see if Mexican fans can get interested in the groundwork. I heard (on here I believe) the UFC wasn’t popular with Mexicans because of this specific reason.
It would be wise of the UFC to do a submissions 101 segment on the reality show.
D says
The GAYEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Random Dude says
Only an analysis of the secondary ticket market closer to the date of the event will tell us anything about what this means.
Logical says
This is being seeing in México as a can’t-miss Spectacle/Attraction type of thing. It is of no surprise that it sold so quickly considering it is being promoted in México City as something “New/Edgy/Controversial” and that sells quickly. The UFC got lucky that they are on ‘Televisa’ which is a gigantic network that controls much of the media, therefor the usual “Barbaric Extreme” negativity that the media loves to use on MMA is being kept at a minimum — at least for the time being.
Diego says
“The UFC got lucky that they are on ‘Televisa’ ”
That’s not really luck, is it? The UFC has been grooming the Mexican market for some time and they have been smart about how they penetrate it. The sport is already popular with Mexican-American fans, and the TUF season with Cain and Werdum will help push the sport in Mexico. I don’t know if it will catch on like boxing or be just a passing fad, but at least it’s a good start.
D says
Logical is a complete fucking idiot.
Andrew says
does tops have a job?