UFC Fight Night 101 drew 13,721 for a live gate of $2.2 million Australian dollars from Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. In addition, Robert Whittaker scored a double bonus on Saturday night.
It was the second event in Melbourne as the first event was last November’s UFC 193: Rousey v. Holm. It was the company’s first event at Rod Laver Arena as 193 took place at Etihad Stadium.
According to its web site, the record attendance at Rod Laver Arena is 16,183 for a Justin Timberlake concert in November 2007.
As for the bonuses, Robert Whittaker earned a Fight of the Night bonus with Derek Brunson for their main event battle. Whittaker also received a Performance Bonus for his stoppage of Brunson. Newcomer Tyson Pedro earned a Performance of the Night bonus for his submission of Khalil Rountree in the first round. All received the standard $50,000 bonus.
The numbers were announced post-event.
Payout Perspective:
Aside from the main event and Pedro, there was not much to say about Saturday night’s event. Most of the fights went to a decision and there was not much to say about any of the other fights. The attendance does show that Melbourne fans deserve to be in the rotation for annual events in the city.
Very impressive numbers. Goes to show you how global mma is.
Timberlake is global lol.
doesn’t sound like I missed much.
You know I noticed something, thats a rather low sum for such a high attendance….the Australian dollar isnt worth as much as the American dollar, sounds like the ticket prices were more modest than American ticket prices. I would say though, from what I have read and people I know in “Oz”, UFC is VERY popular there. Brazil, USA, Australia, Canada seem to be the most popular nations for that organization.