Sean O'Malley will defend his UFC bantamweight championship against Merab Dvalishvili on September 14, 2024. Riyadh Season Noche UFC is the most expensive UFC event ever and it'll go toe-to-toe with a boxing event featuring Canelo Álvarez vs. Edgar Berlanga.
While UFC 306 is booked for the Las Vegas Sphere, Álvarez will defend one of his super middleweight titles against Berlanga at the T-Mobile Arena. The date and timings of the boxing and MMA bouts will clash, and fans can't help but anticipate which event will be a bigger commercial success.
According to Khabib Nurmagomedov's coach, O'Malley won't be able to outsell Álvarez in PPV terms despite the UFC calling its event a celebration of Mexican heritage...
Javier Mendez Blames Prices And Sean O'Malley Not Being As Popular As Conor McGregor For Underwhelming Noche UFC Sales
Nurmagomedov's coach discussed whether O'Malley is a big enough draw to compete with Álvarez directly on the Javier Mendez Podcast recently. He outright highlighted the boxer's massive following in Mexico and how "Suga" is yet to achieve Conor McGregor's levels of stardom.
That's mexican's day for pay-per-view, it's always been that way for as long as I remember. And Canelo being the biggest superstar in Mexico fighting on that night, I think on a pay-per-view level, it's going to be difficult to compete. On top of that, if you look at the prices.
The Mexican Independence Day is September 16, and unsurprisingly, sporting events around the date have usually been headlined by the most popular Mexican athletes. Mendez called Álvarez the biggest star in Mexico and predicted that his fight could generate more revenue than Riyadh Season Noche UFC.
Mendez didn't put all the blame on O'Malley, though. Despite the recent price drop, the cheapest tickets for Riyadh Season Noche UFC cost over $700. In contrast, the cheapest tickets to Canelo vs. Berlanga are $400 at the time of writing.
According to Nurmagomedov's coach, unless someone's a huge MMA fan, they would consider watching one of the biggest names in boxing history for a lesser price.
I don't think that O'Malley's a huge star yet. I think he can be, and I, but I don't think he's Conor-ish. I don't think he's, honestly speaking, where he needs to be yet. I mean, he's got all the charismatic personality. He's got the fighting style. But I just don't think he has that he has that, the people that can propel him into that next level.
Mendez admitted that "Suga" has the personality and fighting style to be a much bigger star in the future. However, he's more interested in the winner of the UFC 306 main event defending their belt against Umar Nurmagomedov, who potentially secured a title shot by defeating Cory Sandhagen recently.
As of now, around 1,700 Riyadh Season Noche UFC tickets remain to be sold and Dana White expects a sell-out and a record $21 million gate.