MMA Junkie reports the attendance and bonuses for UFC Fight Night 75 taking place Saturday night from Japan. Notably, the attendance was the lowest for a UFC show in Japan since March 2013.
Per MMA Junkie, there was no official attendance announced for UFC 144 in February 2012 although it was an estimated crowd of 21,000 and confirmation that at least 15,000 seats were sold for the event at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan.
March 2013 – UFC on Fuel TV 8: 14,682
September 2014 – UFC Fight Night 52: 12,395
September 2015 – UFC Fight Night 75: 10,137
Uriah Hall led the bonuses of the night with his upset victory, via the help of his spin kick, on Gegard Mousasi. Josh Barnett, Diego Brandao and Keita Nakamura also received $50K.
Payout Perspective:
Before we bad mouth the attendance figures, we note that this show was being held Sunday morning in Japan. Last year, the show was later in the day in Japan (late Friday night in the U.S.) to accommodate the fans. We may be seeing fans starting to decide, based on the card, whether or not they want to see the fight live. Japan is a prime area for the UFC in its strategy to build an Asian market for the organization and while the attendance figures are down, subtle tweaks could facilitate growth. One need only look to see what Bellator is doing to understand the Japanese influence in MMA and understand that it’s a prime market.
But, if the cards are inconvenient timewise, fans might not be motivated to buy tickets. We shall see if the UFC decides to localize the event for a Fight Pass audience and allowing the fans more of a convenience.
tops E says
So globally its going down as well…considering its a rare event like the wwe overseas…fans should be excited…but theyre not hahaha…ufc should concentrate on the u.s. 14 yr old female fanbase hahahaha
d says
MMA in Japan >>>>>>>>> Boxing in Japan.
Troll daddy says
Sumo wrestling in Japan >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> anything UFC in Japan.