| Sakara=Excitement | 12-29-2012 11:01 PM |
UFC 155 Fight Bonuses, Attendance, and Live Gate
UFC 155 bonuses: Miller, Lauzon, Duffee, Moraga earn $65,000 awards | News Quote:
LAS VEGAS – Jim Miller, Joe Lauzon, Todd Duffee and John Moraga each earned $65,000 bonuses for their performances at Saturday's UFC 155 event.
Duffee earned the "Knockout of the Night" award, Moraga won "Submission of the Night" and Miller and Lauzon picked up "Fight of the Night" honors.
MMAjunkie.com (UFC blog for UFC news, UFC rumors, fighter interviews and event previews/recaps) learned of the winners and bonus amounts at the night's post-event press conference, where they were announced by UFC President Dana White.
UFC 155 took place at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The event's main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on FX and Facebook.
Miller (22-4 MMA, 11-3 UFC) spent the first round battering Lauzon (22-8 MMA, 9-5 UFC) and bloodying him relentlessly with elbows and fists. But in the second, Lauzon was able to start to mount a comeback. And in the third, he went after it with gusto – though his submission attempts proved to be too little, too late. Still, it was the one fight out of the first four on the main card that had the crowd on its feet.
Duffee (8-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) made a triumphant return to the UFC after a lengthy absence and survived a few rough moments with Philip De Fries (9-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) to notch a first-round TKO. Duffee landed several big bombs with De Fries pushed up against the fence, and then a giant uppercut dropped him for good.
Moraga (12-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) spent the first two rounds of his fight against Chris Cariaso (14-4 MMA, 4-2 UFC) on the wrong end of the striking game. But in the third, Moraga was able to get the fight to the fence, and he transitioned from a front headlock to a standing guillotine that eventually was too much for Cariaso.
| UFC 155 draws a reported 12,423 attendance for $3.286 million live gate | News Quote:
LAS VEGAS – Saturday night's UFC 155 event drew an announced attendance of 12,423 and a live gate of $3.286 million.
UFC President Dana White announced the figures at the night's post-event news conference, which MMAjunkie.com (UFC blog for UFC news, UFC rumors, fighter interviews and event previews/recaps) attended.
UFC 155 took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and featured a heavyweight title fight between champion Junior Dos Santos and former champ Cain Velasquez in the pay-per-view headliner. Velasquez dominated Dos Santos and won a lopsided, five-round unanimous decision
The Nevada State Athletic Commission will verify the figures and release an official tally likely next week.
The numbers were down from the UFC's most recent event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, UFC 148 in July. That pay-per-view also featured a title rematch with middleweight champion Anderson Silva defending his title against Chael Sonnen. That card drew a venue record $6.9 million gate, which eclipsed the $5.4 million mark set at UFC 66 in December 2006. That card featured a main event light heavyweight title fight between then-champion Chuck Liddell and rival Tito Ortiz.
While the number of "comp" or free tickets was not revealed, the figures represent an average revenue of $264.51 per ticket issued.
The MGM Grand Garden Arena's all-time top UFC gates as compiled by MMAjunkie.com include:
UFC 148 (Silva vs. Sonnen II): $6,900,000 gate (15,104 attendance)
UFC 66 (Liddell vs. Ortiz II): $5,397,300 gate (13,761 attendance)
UFC 91 (Couture vs. Lesnar): $4,815,675 (14,272)
UFC 71 (Liddell vs. Jackson): $4,304,000 (14,728)
UFC 94 (St. Pierre vs. Penn II): $4,290,000 (14,885)
UFC 116 (Lesnar vs. Carwin): $4,053,990 (12,740)
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