Even without Aldo, UFC projects record box office in edition 189

UFC expects full house for Mendes x McGregor fight

The output of José Aldo of UFC 189 appears not to have shaken the organization's ambitions. The event, which takes place on July 11th in Las Vegas, was the biggest promotional investment ever made by the show and would feature Aldo's title defense against the controversial Irishman as its main attraction. Conor McGregor. But with the Brazilian's injury, the American Chad Mendes agreed to face the European athlete for the interim title. However, not even the unexpected situation with the most dominant champion in Ultimate appears to have taken the bold goals out of the head of franchise president Dana White.

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According to White, with the two UFC 189 title fights – in addition to McGregor vs. Mendes, for the interim featherweight title, Robbie Lawler e Rory McDonald duel for the welterweight title – the show should surpass the US$7 million mark at the box office (almost R$22 million). The number would be a record for the UFC in the United States.

And the grandiose plans don't just come from the UFC boss. Senior Vice President Peter Dropnick said the MGM Grand Garden Arena is preparing to increase its capacity in pursuit of the UFC's record attendance on North American soil.

“We have to be creative. We have seats in some places that have never had seats before,” she said.

UFC's biggest revenue in the United States came in edition number 148, when Anderson Silva derrotou Chael Sonnen in a long-awaited and much-hyped rematch. The edition brought an audience of 13.600 people with revenue of US$6,9 million at the box office

Absolute record

Despite the UFC's ambition to match its biggest audience on North American soil, the organization's absolute record is still far from being achieved. At UFC 129, in April 2011, 55 thousand people were at the Rogers Centre, in Toronto, to watch the show that featured two title fights. José Aldo e Mark hominick, by the featherweight category, and Georges St Pierre e Jake Shields, in the welterweight division.