UFC
Dana White's current live gate estimate for UFC 168 places it second all time in the U.S.
Dec 27, 2013 - 10:05:20 AM Dana White's current live gate estimate for UFC 168 places it second all time in the U.S.

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

There was no question that Saturday's UFC 168 card was going to be one of the biggest events in UFC history, and as far as ticket sales are concerned, it's leaning that way.

"We're so sold out on this fight, it's insane," White said in a media scrum following the pre-fight press conference on Thursday (transcribed by MMAWeekly.com). "There are some singles left out there."

"I think we're at $6.3 million right now."

If that number is where the event winds up, that makes it the second biggest gate the UFC has garnered in the U.S. Due to ticket prices being lower than last year's Anderson Silva-Chael Sonnen rematch, it would fall short of that record setting $6.9 million gate.

However, this Anderson Silva-Chris Weidman rematch at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas would still be the next biggest, surpassing what the UFC brought in last month for their 20th anniversary card at UFC 167.

Both of those events are well shy of the UFC's all-time record, though, as they hit the $12 million mark for UFC 129 in Toronto. That event was a massive outlier, as they drew an attendance of 55,000 in their only stadium show to date.

Penick's Analysis: That this card is among the biggest ever from a live gate standpoint isn't surprising at all. The Silva-Weidman rematch is massive, given what happened in that fight in July, and the Ronda Rousey-Miesha Tate rivalry has been brought to a further pitch this fall/winter as well. It's a big, big night, and the people paying some of those exorbitant ticket prices clearly believe that as well.