According to Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, ticket sales are down compared to the UFC’s New Year’s Eve show from 2007.

The December 27 event has sold 5,500 tickets for a $1.7 million gate. Unless there is a late surge in ticket sales, it’s expected that the final gate will be somewhere around the $2.5 million range. That number is nearly embarrassing in comparison to last year’s live gate of $4.9 million.

UFC 92 features three high profile matchups, including the second semifinal heavyweight fight in the “mini-tournament” to determine the UFC’s undisputed heavyweight champion. Last year, UFC 79 featured a co-main event featuring Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva in a match MMA fans had been waiting to see for years, and Matt Hughes vs. Georges St.-Pierre in the 3rd match of their fight trilogy.

In comparison, the January 31 show featuring a superfight between BJ Penn and Georges St.-Pierre has already sold 7,000 tickets for a gate of $1.9 million.

Both cards are expected to perform well in PPV sales. Speculation is that the numbers will end up somewhere in the range of 600,000. In spite of slower-then-expected gate sales, the event should be considered a success if the PPV can carry that type of number.

Leave a Reply