UFC 97 Sets New North America Attendance Record

Mamba · Apr 19, 2009

MONTREAL – The Ultimate Fighting Championship's sophomore event in Montreal set a new North American MMA attendance record with 21,451 attendees, who combined for a staggering $4.9 million gate.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) learned of the numbers from UFC President Dana White in the post-UFC 97 press conference.

If the numbers are made official by the Quebec Athletic Commission, UFC 97 will have outdrawn Montreal's first record-breaking event, UFC 83, by just 61 people.

UFC 83 took place a year ago on April 19, 2008. The show, headlined by then-UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra vs. Canadian fighter Georges St. Pierre, drew 21,390 fans. The event set a then-new North American MMA record previously held by UFC 68, which took place in Columbus, Ohio, in 2007. That show, which featured then-UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia vs. Randy Couture, drew 19,049 fans.

However, this year's event couldn't top UFC 83's live gate of $5.1 million. However, UFC 97 does rank fourth in UFC and North American MMA history, falling less than $400,000 short of the record $5.4 million gate registered with UFC 66 and the highly anticipated rematch between Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz.

The top five UFC and North American MMA gates now include:

* UFC 66 (Liddell vs. Ortiz II): $5,397,300 gate (12,191 attendance)
* UFC 83 (St. Pierre vs. Serra II): $5,100,000 gate (21,390 attendance)
* UFC 79 (St. Pierre vs. Hughes): $4,994,050 gate (9,704 attendance)
* UFC 97 (Silva vs. Leites): $4,900,000 gate (21,451 attendance)*
* UFC 91 (Couture vs. Lesnar): $4,815,675 gate (13,224 attendance)

* - Total not verified by regulatory body

UFC 97 is another blockbuster event for the world's top MMA promotion, which thus far, has proven to be essentially recession-proof; three of the UFC's top five gates of all time have now taken place in the past year – despite the decline of the U.S. and other economies around the world.

UFC 97 featured UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites and Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. The event sold out in just one week.

For complete coverage of "UFC 97: Redemption," check out the UFC Events page on MMAjunkie.com
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http://mmajunkie.com/news/14626/ufc-97-sets-new-north-american-mma-record-with-21451-attendance.mma

drexlersdad · Apr 19, 2009

damn thats like 240 bucks for the average ticket, thats CRAZY.

speeds · Apr 19, 2009

It was hella packed.

We had an extra ticket and couldn't get a scalper to buy it. They were only selling. I dunno why.

Chocolove · Apr 20, 2009

I hope that GSP/Hughes event is a type. ~9000 people generating over 4 million is outrageous.

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UFC 97 Sets New North America Attendance Record

Mamba The King is Back Staff Member Global Moderator

drexlersdad SABAS

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UFC 97 Sets New North America Attendance Record

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Mamba The King is Back Staff Member Global Moderator

drexlersdad SABAS

speeds $2.50 highball, $1.50 beer Staff Member Administrator GFX Team

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