A headline like "Dana White Giving Away UFC 104 Tickets" may sound like a good, fan friendly thing. However, there is a bit of a scary undertone to the story and Zak Woods of SB Nation's Watch Kalib Run expands on the idea:
The fact that Dana himself has already given away 3,300 tickets is a shocking development when you consider that local businesses also provide comped tickets. Will UFC 104 even break the 10,000 mark for a paid audience? (Note: the number that MMA Weekly provided could include comped tickets that local businesses give out though usually they buy tickets to hand out).
Is White's generosity a leading indicator about the drawing power of Lyoto Machida and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and the overall strength of the card, which Zach earlier bemoaned?
If the live gate is poor could that mean that the UFC is on the verge of a disappointing PPV audience?
The card certainly doesn't look on paper to be one that will be sold by the headliner's names. This is a card that is likely being sold on the UFC name alone and as such it could lead to another somewhat disappointing gate at the Staples Center.
Zak goes on to explain that poor local economies have hurt the gate at cards as recent as the UFC 102 event in Portland.
It'll be interesting to see the live gate and PPV numbers after the event ends. Lyoto Machida's stock has certainly never been higher than it is now coming off a dominant title win over Rashad Evans. 380k PPV buys is a realistic number for the event and anything over 400 would probably have to be considered a success.
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